US battery storage hits a record 20.2 GWh in Q2 2026

US battery storage surged to a record 20.2 GWh in Q2 2026, lifting H1 2026 to 30.8 GWh (up 23% YoY) as utility-scale projects dominated with about 18 GWh, led by Arizona’s 6.2 GWh, with Texas at 3.8 GWh and California at 3.6 GWh. About 44% of utility-scale capacity was paired with solar and 56% was standalone. Residential storage declined 27% in Q2 after the 25D tax credit expired, while commercial/storage grew and Tesla opened a Texas Megafactory producing 50 GWh/year Megapacks. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence and SEIA raised their outlooks, forecasting ~683 GWh by 2030 and ~71 GWh for 2026 (roughly 20% above 2025). Notably, ~74% of Q2 capacity was installed in states that Trump won in 2024.