Beatrice Lang
Electricity is the engine of modern life, powering our homes, workplaces, and devices. The United States uses a variety of energy sources and technologies to generate electricity, including fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), nuclear, and renewable energy. The specific sources of electricity vary by state, and some states are shifting towards cleaner energy sources. As of 2023, utility-scale electricity in the US was generated from renewable sources (21%), nuclear energy (18%), and fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum). States like California, Vermont, and Washington are leading the way in solar and hydroelectric power, while others like Nevada and Florida are transitioning from coal to natural gas and renewable sources.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date | Data from 2017 to 2025 |
| Energy Sources | Fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), nuclear energy, and renewable energy |
| Major Sources | Natural gas, coal, solar, wind, hydropower, nuclear power |
| States with High Renewable Energy Goals | Hawaii (100% by 2045), California (50% by 2030), Maryland (50% by 2030) |
| States with High Renewable Energy Production | Idaho (55% renewable in 2022), Texas (14.35% of total US energy production in May), Washington (heavy use of hydroelectricity) |
| Trends | Shift from coal to natural gas and renewables, growth of wind and solar |
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What You'll Learn
Solar power
Solar energy production is measured in megawatt-hours, with one megawatt-hour equalling 1,000 kilowatt-hours, the unit used to measure residential energy use on electricity bills. The cost of residential solar panels has fallen by 40% in the last decade, making them a more popular choice for homeowners. Federal, state, and local governments have set renewable energy goals, encouraging power plants to invest in solar energy.
Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity. The panel modules capture energy from the sun and turn it into direct current (DC) energy. Solar arrays have an inverter, which converts the DC energy into alternating current (AC) energy, the type of electricity that powers homes.
In May 2025, solar energy accounted for 11.34% of all electricity generated in the US. California is the top state for solar power generation, producing 24.1% of the nation's total solar energy in August 2025. About 54.2% of California's electricity comes from solar generation. Nevada is second on the list, with 41.5% of its electricity coming from solar energy.
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Hydroelectric power
The largest concentration of hydroelectric generation in the US is in the Columbia River basin, which in 2012 was the source of 44% of the nation's hydroelectricity. The western United States is home to many of the largest hydropower dams, with about half of the total US utility-scale conventional hydroelectricity-generation capacity concentrated in Washington, California, and Oregon. Washington has more conventional hydroelectricity-generation capacity than any other state and is the site of the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest US hydropower facility.
Other large hydroelectric power stations include the Hoover Dam in Arizona and Nevada, which was the first US hydroelectric power station with a capacity of at least 1,000 MW upon its completion in 1936. Since then, numerous other power stations have surpassed this threshold, often through the expansion of existing facilities. The Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, the third-largest in the US, is one of several permanent hydropower stations on both the American and Canadian sides of Niagara Falls.
The amount of hydroelectric power generated is strongly affected by changes in precipitation and surface runoff. Pumped-storage hydroelectricity is another application of hydroelectricity, which does not create a net gain in power but enables peak demand balancing. Water is pumped from a lower elevation source to a higher one and is only released through generators when electric demand is high. The Bath County Pumped Storage Station is the largest such facility in the US, with a capacity of 12,000 MW of potential hydropower.
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Coal power
In 2022, coal generated about 19.5% of the electricity at utility-scale facilities in the U.S., a significant drop from 38.6% in 2014 and 51% in 2001. Texas is the state with the highest electricity generation from coal, with utility-scale coal power plants producing 88.8 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2021. Pennsylvania has the greatest number of coal power stations, with 15 operational coal-fired power plants as of July 2024.
Some states have been transitioning away from coal power in recent years. For example, Nevada's largest coal plant, the Mohave Generating Station, went offline in 2005, and the state has since increased its share of renewable energy sources. Similarly, natural gas surpassed coal as Florida's top generation source in 2003, and coal power has been on the decline in Maryland for over a decade. The last large coal-fired power plant in Massachusetts shut down in 2019, and the state has since increased its mandate for utilities to sell electricity from renewable sources.
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Nuclear power
On the other hand, Delaware is the state with the least sustainable electricity-generating facilities, with 96.3% of its electricity produced from "dirty sources," mainly natural gas. Colorado also generates most of its electricity from fossil fuel sources, with about half from coal and a quarter from natural gas. However, wind power has been on the rise in Colorado, becoming the third-largest source of electricity in the state last year.
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Natural gas
The sources of electricity vary by state in the US. Natural gas is one of the major sources of electricity in the US, with about 39.33% of electricity in the country produced by burning natural gas as of May 2025. Natural gas burns cleaner than coal but produces methane, which is a greenhouse gas.
In Florida, natural gas surpassed coal as the state's top electricity generation source in 2003 and has since expanded its share. By 2017, natural gas constituted two-thirds of the state's electricity generation, which was more than double the national average. In Delaware, 96.3% of the electricity produced within the state comes from dirty sources, including natural gas. In Nevada, natural gas edged out coal as the top electricity generation source in 2005, and it provided nearly 70% of electricity production in the state as of 2024. In Massachusetts, natural gas has more than doubled its share of electricity generation over the past two decades.
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Frequently asked questions
California has an ambitious target of sourcing 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The state's electricity comes from a variety of sources, including solar, wind, and hydropower.
Texas produces the most electricity in the US, accounting for 14.35% of the nation's total energy production in May. The state's electricity comes primarily from gas, coal, and oil, with a growing number of wind and solar sites.
Washington state has one of the lowest average electricity rates due to its heavy dependence on hydroelectricity. The Grand Coulee dam in Washington state has the largest capacity of any single power installation in the US.
