Proposals for New US Power Plants Jump 90% on Surging Demand

David R. Baker, Bloomberg News

The Constellation Energy Handley Generating Station in Fort Worth, Texas, US, on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. Power plants that can serve more than 1.5 million Texas homes are forced to depend on a single intrastate pipeline for the most reliable form of service, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of natural gas delivery-point data, federal power plant disclosures and statewide geospatial records. Photographer: Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- As utilities race to keep ahead of rising electricity demand, developers have proposed a surge of new power plants across the US — and very few of them would run on fossil fuels.

The generating capacity of proposed plants seeking to connect to the power grid jumped nearly 90% in the last three years, according to a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2023, the combined capacity of all those plants totaled almost 2,600 gigawatts. A single gigawatt of electricity can power 750,000 homes.

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Solar power and large-scale batteries account for more than 80% of the proposed capacity, according to the study. In contrast, power plants that would burn natural gas or coal represent just 3%.

Still, the study cautions that historically, less than 20% of projects that apply for a grid connection actually get built.

After remaining flat for years, US electricity demand is expected to climb rapidly as electric vehicles and data centers proliferate. A BofA Global Research report Wednesday forecast demand would grow 15% by 2030, or roughly 70 gigawatts.