RPT-COLUMN-Texas and California widen clean power lead over rest of US: Maguire

By Gavin Maguire

LITTLETON, Colorado, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Texas and California are driving U.S. clean power supplies to record highs so far in 2025, and are building a widening lead over the rest of the country in terms of the share of total power generated from clean energy sources.

Combined clean power output from the main power systems in California and Texas hit new highs during January to August and increased by 10% from the same months in 2024, data from LSEG shows.

That clean output growth sharply exceeded the 2.6% rise in clean generation in the rest of the U.S., and helped total combined power generation levels in California and Texas expand by nearly twice as much as total power supplies elsewhere.

Texas and California also lead the U.S. in new combined installations of solar and battery storage capacity so far in 2025, which looks set to further concentrate clean energy supply growth in those states.

With federal support for building new clean energy generation capacity set to drop sharply, other states may now fall further behind Texas and California in terms of both clean and total power generation momentum.

This could yield lopsided national power growth, with states that have already built out hefty clean capacity footprints outpacing states that have been slower to adopt clean generation capacity in recent years.

FORGING AHEAD

Close to 74% of the wholesale power supplies generated within the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) came from clean sources during January to August, according to data from LSEG.

That was by far the highest clean generation share on record for California, and compares to a 68% clean share for the same months last year and a 60% share for that period in 2023.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) - which covers most of Texas - generated 46.5% of its power from clean sources during January to August. That share was also a record and is up from 43% last year and a 41% share in 2023.

The total volume of clean power generated by CAISO during January to August increased by 4% from the same months in 2024 to a record 3.8 million megawatt hours (MWh), LSEG data shows.

ERCOT's clean generation during January to August was 6.4 million MWh, which was 14% more than the same months the year before and also a new high.

The combined clean generation total from those two states was 10.2 million MWh, which marked a 10% rise from the year before.

Clean power generation in the rest of the U.S. during January to August was 39.9 million MWh, which was a also a record but marked only a 2.6% increase from the same months in 2024.

EXPANDING SHARE

As California and Texas expanded clean power generation more quickly than the rest of the country, their combined share of total national clean power generation climbed to a new high of 20.4% so far in 2025.

That share compares to a 19.3% for January to August in 2024, and to a 19% share during January to August of 2023.

The steep growth pace of clean power supplies in CAISO and ERCOT means that clean power sources accounted for a record 54% of the combined total power generation in CAISO and ERCOT during January to August, while fossil fuels accounted for a 46% share.

That compares to a 39% clean, 61% fossil fuel power generation mix within the rest of the U.S. generation system, LSEG data shows.

The CAISO and ERCOT systems have also built out much of the new U.S. solar and battery storage capacity over the past year, accounting for 36% of new national solar and 66% of new battery storage capacity, according to data portal Cleanview.

Those additions put CAISO and ERCOT in a strong position to continue outperforming the rest of the country in terms of harnessing and deploying clean power, just as power operators in other states grapple with reduced federal support for new clean power.

That means there is a growing risk that Texas and California can more easily than other states keep up with the power demand growth seen nationally, which in turn could lead to a divergence in power market dynamics between ERCOT, CAISO and elsewhere.

The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

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