TLDR: Two milestones landed in the same season. Solar generated more United States electricity than coal for the first month on record, and private equity committed a record sum to clean energy in a single quarter. For sustainability and finance leaders alike, the energy transition now reads as a returns-driven asset class with named billion-dollar deals behind it.
A milestone in the power mix
In May 2026, solar supplied 12.8% of United States electricity while coal supplied 12.2%, the first month solar generated more power than coal. Solar output reached an all-time high of 45.5 terawatt-hours, 17% above the same month a year earlier. The shift built over years: solar’s share of the mix climbed from 5.4% in 2021 to 12.8% in 2026, while coal eased from 19.7% to 12.2% across the same five years.
Capital followed the grid
Private equity arrived in force. Clean-energy private equity (PE) deal value reached a record $63.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026, the highest quarter on record. The figure leans on one landmark transaction, the roughly $40 billion take-private of AES Corporation by EQT, Global Infrastructure Partners, CalPERS and the Qatar Investment Authority. Set that single deal aside, and the remaining $23.8 billion still stands as the second-highest quarter ever recorded.
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