A record-breaking amount of energy storage was installed throughout the United States last year, with Texas playing a major role.

Nearly 58 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of battery energy stationary storage — or BESS — was installed, a 29% increase over the previous year, according to new data from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Texas is the fastest growing battery energy storage market in the country. With more than 26 GWh of capacity, the state is positioned to overtake California this year.

Power-hungry utilities adding to capacity drove the growth spurt, accounting for more than 50 GWh of installations. California, Texas and Arizona made up about 74% of installed capacity. The behind-the-meter market’s demand remained consistent between 2024 and 2025.

Batteries have been hailed as a flexible energy source since they can release power into the grid during times of high demand and charge when that demand drops.

“This record-breaking year for energy storage is just the beginning of its rise as a cornerstone of America’s energy future,” Darren Van’t Hof, interim president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in a statement. “Whether it’s paired with solar or standing on its own, energy storage lowers consumer costs, makes the grid more reliable, and keeps the power on in homes during outages.”

According to the report, more than 600 GWh of energy storage is expected to be installed in the U.S. by 2030.

America’s energy storage market has entered a new phase of sustained, high volume-deployments, Iola Hughes, head of research at Benchmark Minerals, said in the release.

“As policy, manufacturing and market demand align, storage is playing a pivotal role in meeting peak demand, reducing price volatility and improving overall system resilience,” Hughes said. “At a time of rising electricity demand, driven in part by the growth of data centers and AI infrastructure, energy storage will be critical to ensuring the grid can scale reliably and efficiently.”

That volume was evident in Oncor’s 2025 Q4 earnings released Thursday.

The Dallas-headquartered energy delivery company reported having 562 active generation point of interconnection requests at the end of last year. An estimated 48% of those requests were for storage, 40% were solar, 8% wind and 4% gas.

At an event last fall, state officials — including the head of Texas’ electric grid and the state’s top energy regulator — said that despite rapid growth, industrial-scale batteries are still in their early phases.

ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said batteries’ place on the grid will continue to evolve.

“We’re at the very start of this journey,” Vegas said. “Especially the batteries, I think we’re only in the first or second inning.”

This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.