In the United States, electricity derived from coal has decreased over the past two decades, with the annual output declining by almost 65 percent between 2010 and 2024. In contrast, there has been a rise in natural gas and renewable sources within the energy mix. How is electricity generated in the U.S.? Most electricity in the U.S. is generated from steam turbines, which can be powered by fossil and nuclear fuels, biomass, geothermal, and solar thermal energy. Other systems such as gas turbines, hydro turbines, wind turbines, and solar photovoltaics are also major generation technologies. Electric utilities in the U.S. generated more than 2,241 terawatt hours in 2024, accounting for just over half of the power output in the country that year. Growing renewable capacity Renewable sources have become more prominent in the U.S. over the past years, particularly wind, hydro, and solar energy. The former has overtaken conventional hydropower, becoming the leading renewable energy source in the U.S. since 2019. Wind and solar power have also accounted for the largest share of electricity capacity additions in the country in recent years.

Key information about United States Electricity Production

• Electricity Production in United States reached 361,284 GWh in Dec 2024, compared with 324,033 GWh in the previous month.
• Electricity Production data of US is updated monthly averaging at 294,691 GWh from Jan 1973 to Dec 2024.
• The data reached an all-time high of 430,288 GWh in Jul 2024 and a record low of 139,589 GWh in Apr 1973.

The electricity production in the United States peaks in the summer and winter months, the latter season being when the electricity demand of the country is at its highest. The U.S. produced ****** terawatt-hours of electricity in April 2025. By comparison, in the same month the previous year, the U.S. produced ****** terawatt-hours of electricity.

United States US: Electricity Production From Coal Sources: % of Total data was reported at 34.233 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 39.651 % for 2014. United States US: Electricity Production From Coal Sources: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 51.846 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 57.679 % in 1988 and a record low of 34.233 % in 2015. United States US: Electricity Production From Coal Sources: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Energy Production and Consumption. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Coal refers to all coal and brown coal, both primary (including hard coal and lignite-brown coal) and derived fuels (including patent fuel, coke oven coke, gas coke, coke oven gas, and blast furnace gas). Peat is also included in this category.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Electricity production shares may not sum to 100 percent because other sources of generated electricity (such as geothermal, solar, and wind) are not shown. Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

Throughout the past decade, the United States has been notably decreasing its use of coal, and increasing the use of natural gas and renewable energy sources for electricity generation. In 2024, natural gas was by far the largest source of electricity in the North American country, with a generation share of 43 percent. Renewable energy's share amounted to 24 percent that year.

Graph and download economic data for Electric Power Production for United States (M01128USM247NNBR) from Jan 1919 to Dec 1938 about electricity, production, and USA.

United States US: Electricity Production From Oil Sources: % of Total data was reported at 0.904 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.923 % for 2014. United States US: Electricity Production From Oil Sources: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 4.834 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 17.167 % in 1977 and a record low of 0.774 % in 2012. United States US: Electricity Production From Oil Sources: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Energy Production and Consumption. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Oil refers to crude oil and petroleum products.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Electricity production shares may not sum to 100 percent because other sources of generated electricity (such as geothermal, solar, and wind) are not shown. Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

United States US: Electricity Production From Natural Gas Sources: % of Total data was reported at 31.942 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 26.888 % for 2014. United States US: Electricity Production From Natural Gas Sources: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 17.344 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 31.942 % in 2015 and a record low of 9.464 % in 1988. United States US: Electricity Production From Natural Gas Sources: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Energy Production and Consumption. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Gas refers to natural gas but excludes natural gas liquids.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Electricity production shares may not sum to 100 percent because other sources of generated electricity (such as geothermal, solar, and wind) are not shown. Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

The United States generated ***** terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, one of the largest figures recorded in the indicated period. In comparison to the previous year, power generation decreased by *** terawatt-hours. U.S. electricity market and the role of renewables Unlike the use of fossil fuels, U.S. renewable electricity generation has increased in recent years, amounting to more than *** terawatt-hours in 2023. Wind power has become the main renewable source of electricity generation in the North American country, having surpassed conventional hydroelectric power in 2019. Who are the main consumers of electricity? The residential sector was ranked as the largest consumer of electricity in the United States in 2023. Electricity retail sales to residential users have grown by almost *** terawatt-hours since the beginning of the century.

United States US: Electricity Production From Renewable Sources: Excluding Hydroelectric: % of Total data was reported at 7.176 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 6.900 % for 2014. United States US: Electricity Production From Renewable Sources: Excluding Hydroelectric: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 0.471 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.176 % in 2015 and a record low of 0.015 % in 1960. United States US: Electricity Production From Renewable Sources: Excluding Hydroelectric: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Energy Production and Consumption. Electricity production from renewable sources, excluding hydroelectric, includes geothermal, solar, tides, wind, biomass, and biofuels.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted Average; Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

As of 2021, the leading energy source for electricity generation in the United States was fossil fuels, namely natural gas. Natural gas accounted for ** percent of electricity generation of the country, and coal accounted for ** percent that year. In comparison, nuclear power accounted for ** percent of electricity production and renewables for approximately ** percent.

State-level data on all energy sources. Data on production, consumption, reserves, stocks, prices, imports, and exports. Data are collated from state-specific data reported elsewhere on the EIA website and are the most recent values available. Data on U.S. territories also available.

This data deposit constructs data on monthly generation costs and capacities in the United States from 1999-2012 in preparation for their use in "Imperfect Markets versus Imperfect Regulation in U.S. Electricity Generation" (openicpsr-115467).It builds panel data files from the following EIA forms:"Form EIA-860: Annual Electric Generator Report""Form EIA-861: Annual Electric Power Industry Report""Form EIA-767: Annual Steam-Electric Plant Operation and Design Report""Form EIA-923: Power Plant Operations Report""Form EIA-759/906/920/923: Power Plant Report""Form EIA-423: Monthly Cost and Quality of Fuels for Electric Plants Report"and the EPA's Continuous Emissions Monitor System.It constructs a crosswalk that connects the EPA's boilers to the EIA's generator identifiers.

Monthly average hourly CO2, NOx, and SO2 emission factors for each U.S. eGRID subregion. This project utilized GridViewTM, an electric grid dispatch software package, to estimate hourly emission factors for all of the eGRID subregions in the continental United States. These factors took into account electricity imports and exports across the eGRID subregion boundary, and included estimated transmission and distribution (T) losses. Emission types accounted for included carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulfur dioxide (SO2).Data reported as part of this project include hourly average, minimum, and maximum emission factors by month; that is, the average, minimum, and maximum emission factor for the same hour of each day in a month. Please note that the data are reported in lbs/MWh, where the MWh value reported is site electricity use (the actual electricity used at the building) and the pounds of emissions reported are the emissions created at the generator to meet the building load, including transmission and distribution losses. The demand profiles used to generate the data pertain to the following years: eastern interconnect - 2005; Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) - 2008; Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) - 2008.

United States US: Electricity Production From Hydroelectric Sources: % of Total data was reported at 5.842 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6.054 % for 2014. United States US: Electricity Production From Hydroelectric Sources: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 9.342 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18.881 % in 1962 and a record low of 4.904 % in 2001. United States US: Electricity Production From Hydroelectric Sources: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Energy Production and Consumption. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Hydropower refers to electricity produced by hydroelectric power plants.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Electricity production shares may not sum to 100 percent because other sources of generated electricity (such as geothermal, solar, and wind) are not shown. Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

US energy production measures total energy production by nuclear, coal, crude oil and natural gas plant liquids, renewables and dry natural gas. Total energy production includes direct-use energy, energy derived from refined products and electricity generated from nuclear, coal, renewables and gas power plants. Data is sourced from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and is measured in quadrillions of British thermal units (BTUs).

Graph and download economic data for Industrial Production: Utilities: Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution (NAICS = 2211) (IPG2211S) from Jan 1972 to Jul 2025 about power transmission, distributive, electricity, IP, production, industry, indexes, and USA.

United States Electricity Generation data was reported at 10.729 kWh/Day bn in Mar 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 12.267 kWh/Day bn for Feb 2025. United States Electricity Generation data is updated monthly, averaging 10.486 kWh/Day bn from Jan 1991 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 411 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.886 kWh/Day bn in Jul 2024 and a record low of 7.593 kWh/Day bn in Apr 1991. United States Electricity Generation data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by U.S. Energy Information Administration. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.RB004: Electricity Supply and Consumption.

United States US: Electricity Production From Renewable Sources: Excluding Hydroelectric data was reported at 317,421,000,000.000 kWh in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 298,023,000,000.000 kWh for 2014. United States US: Electricity Production From Renewable Sources: Excluding Hydroelectric data is updated yearly, averaging 12,867,000,000.000 kWh from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 317,421,000,000.000 kWh in 2015 and a record low of 122,000,000.000 kWh in 1960. United States US: Electricity Production From Renewable Sources: Excluding Hydroelectric data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Energy Production and Consumption. Electricity production from renewable sources, excluding hydroelectric, includes geothermal, solar, tides, wind, biomass, and biofuels.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Sum; Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.

United States US: Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption: % of Total data was reported at 82.776 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 82.935 % for 2014. United States US: Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 87.236 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 95.982 % in 1967 and a record low of 82.776 % in 2015. United States US: Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Energy Production and Consumption. Fossil fuel comprises coal, oil, petroleum, and natural gas products.; ; IEA Statistics © OECD/IEA 2014 (http://www.iea.org/stats/index.asp), subject to https://www.iea.org/t&c/termsandconditions/; Weighted average; Restricted use: Please contact the International Energy Agency for third-party use of these data.