The US Energy Information Administration projects a steady downward trajectory for biomass-derived electricity output across the United States over the next two years, despite an expanding domestic renewable energy market. Overall renewable generation is expected to rise from 24 percent in 2025 to nearly 28 percent by 2027. However, biomassBiomass is a complex biological organic or non-organic solid product derived from living or recently living organism and available naturally. Various types of wastes such as animal manure, waste paper, sludge and many industrial wastes are also treated as biomass because like natural biomass these More electricity generation is forecast to decline from 20.5 billion kilowatt-hours in 2025 to 20.2 billion kilowatt-hours in 2026 and 19.9 billion kilowatt-hours in 2027. This contraction reduces the share of biomass within the total renewable generation mix from 1.97 percent in 2025 down to 1.61 percent by 2027.

The primary challenge facing the biomass power sector is stagnation in generation capacity alongside shifting feedstockFeedstock refers to the raw organic material used to produce biochar. This can include a wide range of materials, such as wood chips, agricultural residues, and animal manure. More economics. Total installed grid capacity remains flat across the forecast window, comprising 2.7 gigawatts of waste biomass and 2.1 gigawatts of wood biomass in the electric power sector. At the same time, dedicated power sector wood biomass consumption is projected to fall from 0.167 quadrillion British thermal units (quads) in 2025 to 0.157 quads in 2027. These metrics reflect declining power market competitiveness for dedicated thermal biopower assets relative to faster-growing zero-marginal-cost renewable technologies.

In response to changing energy economics, feedstock utilization is pivoting away from standalone electricity generation and toward industrial sector applications. Industrial facilities maintain 5 gigawatts of wood biomass and 1.3 gigawatts of waste biomass capacity. Industrial wood biomass consumption is forecast to expand from 1.3 quads in 2025 to 1.422 quads by 2027. Concurrently, total waste biomass consumption across all sectors is projected to rise slightly from 0.372 quads to 0.376 quads by 2027.

These shifting consumption patterns illustrate a structural transition in biomass economics. While centralized power plants reduce their demand for wood feedstocks, industrial thermal and processing sectors are capturing higher volumes of available biomass. This reallocation highlights how industrial users and thermochemical conversion operations are securing a larger footprint across regional supply chains, absorbing feedstocks previously routed toward baseline grid power generation.