America isn’t making electricity the way it did two decades ago.
How the United States made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas surpassed coal as the country’s top source of power in 2016, and renewables like wind and solar have grown quickly to become major players in the U.S. power system.
But every state has its own story.
In Nevada, natural gas became the top source of electricity generation in 2005, earlier than in many other places. More recently, solar power has surged there.
Wind power has taken off in Iowa over the past two decades, beating out coal in 2019 to become the state’s largest source of power generation.
Even in Wyoming, where coal still dominates electricity generation, alternative sources of power have made steady gains.
Fossil fuels still generate the majority of America’s electricity, but the shift from coal to natural gas and renewable power has helped reduce planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions and other harmful pollution.
Last year, coal was the top electricity fuel in 10 states, down from nearly two-thirds of states in 2001. Natural gas largely took over during that time, but wind also emerged as a leading power source across the Midwest.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration
Still, experts say there is a long way to go if the country wants to zero out emissions from the power sector to fight climate change, a goal set by President Biden.
Switching from coal to gas “gets you part of the way there,” said Melissa Lott, a researcher at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, because burning natural gas for power produces fewer carbon dioxide emissions than burning coal. But fewer emissions is not the same as zero emissions, she added. “Many more technologies, including renewables, need to be built quickly to get us all the way to our climate goals,” Dr. Lott said.
Mr. Biden’s signature climate and energy law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, aimed to turbocharge the growth of renewable wind and solar energy nationwide and to support other clean power technologies like nuclear energy, advanced batteries and carbon capture and storage for gas plants. But the future of that law remains uncertain in an election year, with Republicans promising to repeal many of its clean-energy provisions.
What happens at the federal level is only part of the equation. States have the power to accelerate, slow down or block clean energy, too.
We charted how electricity generation has changed in every state so far, from 2001 to 2023, using data from the United States Energy Information Administration. Find your state below:
How Alabama made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
In 2001, coal fueled more than half of the electricity produced in Alabama, but many of the state’s aging coal power plants have closed since then or shifted to burning cheaper natural gas. By 2014, gas had become the top electricity source in the state, followed by nuclear. And, last year, coal fueled just 14 percent of the state’s electricity generation.
Hydro has long been Alabama’s largest source of renewable power. The state produced less than 1 percent of its power from solar energy last year.
Alabama generates more electricity than it consumes and typically sends about one-third of its output to nearby states. (Exports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Alaska made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas has been Alaska’s top source of power for two decades, providing more than half of the state’s electricity in most years. Hydro, petroleum and coal supply most of the rest. In 2010, Alaska set a nonbinding goal to produce 50 percent of its electricity from renewable and alternative energy sources by 2025, but the state has only seen a small uptick in wind power generation since then.
Alaska has its own electric grid, which means “whatever electricity is created there is what they’re consuming,” said Glenn McGrath, a power systems analyst at the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “It’s about as isolated as you can get.”
Many rural communities in Alaska are not connected to the main grid and use diesel generators for power, although smaller, community-based wind turbines are becoming more common.
How Arizona made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal was Arizona’s top source of electricity generation until 2016, when natural gas surpassed it. Coal-fired generation has declined rapidly over the past decade as some of the state’s coal power plants shut down and others switched to cheaper natural gas.
In recent years, natural gas has taken over as the state’s top source of power, with gas fueling 46 percent of Arizona’s electricity generation last year. The state is also home to the second-largest nuclear power plant in the country.
Arizona makes more electricity than it uses and exports power to nearby states. (Exports are not shown on the chart above.)
The state has abundant solar resources. Its largest utility, Arizona Public Service, set a voluntary goal of getting 65 percent of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. However, the utility lobbied against proposals to codify these renewable goals into law.
How Arkansas made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal was the largest source of electricity generation in Arkansas for much of the past two decades. But its role in the state’s electric mix diminished over time as natural gas power expanded. After vying with coal for the top slot, gas has been the state’s largest source of power generation since 2022.
Arkansas generates more electricity than it consumes and sends power to nearby states. (Exports are not shown on the chart above.)
How California made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas has been California’s top electricity fuel since 2001, but more than half of the power produced in the state last year came from renewable energy and other carbon-free sources, including solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and nuclear.
Solar power, in particular, has grown rapidly over the past decade, largely because of supportive state policies. At the same time, nuclear power has declined. (One of the state’s two nuclear plants closed in 2012. The other is now slated to retire in 2030.)
California has often led the way on clean power, using state policy to encourage the adoption of clean power technologies like solar panels and giant grid batteries. In 2018, the state set a goal for utilities to get all of their electricity from zero-carbon sources by 2045. State utilities and regulators are now wrestling with how quickly they can reduce dependence on natural gas while still maintaining a reliable power supply.
California consumes more electricity than it generates within its borders and typically imports about one-third to one-fifth of the power it uses. (Imports are not reflected in the chart above.)
How Colorado made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal has been Colorado’s top source of electricity for more than two decades. But coal-fired generation shrank to 32 percent of the state’s power mix last year from 76 percent in 2001. At the same time, natural gas and wind power increased their role in the state’s electric mix. In recent years, wind turbines have supplied more than a quarter of the electricity produced in Colorado, enough to become the state’s second-largest source of electricity in 2021 and 2022. But gas power topped wind again last year.
Colorado aims to get 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2040. The state’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, plans to phase out its remaining coal-burning power plants by 2030 in favor of cleaner alternatives.
Colorado usually consumes more electricity than it generates and imports power from nearby states. (Imports are not shown in the chart above.)
How Connecticut made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas and nuclear energy have fueled the vast majority of Connecticut’s electricity generation over the last two decades. But gas generation has increased substantially since 2010 and gas now supplies nearly 60 percent of the power produced in the state.
At the same time, the amount of electricity that comes from other fossil fuels, including coal and petroleum, has declined. Connecticut’s last remaining coal plant, Bridgeport Harbor, retired in 2021.
Connecticut aims to get 100 percent of its electricity from zero-emissions sources by 2040. Last year, nuclear power provided 33 percent of the state’s electricity generation and another 5 percent came from renewable sources, mostly solar.
How Delaware made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas displaced coal as the primary source of electricity produced in Delaware in 2010 and has dominated the state’s power mix since then. Coal generation, meanwhile, has dwindled. Coal fueled 70 percent of the state’s power generation in 2008, its peak year, but only provided backup power during some months last year.
In part because of this shift, carbon dioxide emissions from the state’s electricity sector have fallen over the past decade. Delaware requires that state utilities generate or procure 40 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2035, including 10 percent from solar.
Power produced in-state typically supplies “much less than the state needs,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Delaware gets the majority of its electricity from neighboring states through the regional grid. (Imports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Florida made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
In 2001, more than one-third of the electricity produced in Florida came from burning coal. Two years later, natural gas surpassed coal as the state’s top source of power generation and has continued to expand its share in the state’s electric mix ever since. By last year, natural gas fueled three-fourths of Florida’s electricity generation, significantly higher than the national average.
Despite its nickname, the Sunshine State has been slow to adopt solar power. But utility-scale solar installations have picked up in the last few years. Florida is the second-largest producer of electricity nationwide, after Texas, but still imports a small amount of power from neighboring states to meet consumer demand. (Imports are not reflected in the chart above.)
In 2024, Florida lawmakers passed a bill that cuts support for renewable energy projects and makes it easier to build natural gas infrastructure. The new law prohibits construction of offshore wind turbines in state waters, repeals state grant programs that encourage energy conservation and renewable energy and cancels the state’s voluntary renewable energy goals.
How Georgia made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal provided the majority of Georgia’s electricity generation through the 2000s but declined sharply during the 2010s as natural gas power increased. Gas has been the state’s top source of power for most of the last decade, with nuclear power often in second place.
Georgia is the only state to bring new nuclear capacity online in recent years: Two new reactors that opened in 2023 and 2024. They were the first new nuclear reactors in the country to be built from scratch in decades, but the projects were plagued by delays and significant cost overruns.
Solar power has also grown quickly in the state in recent years, providing about 6 percent of Georgia’s power in 2023. The state is also still expanding fossil fuel power. Georgia Power, the state’s main utility, plans to build several new generating stations fueled by oil and gas in the coming years to serve growing power demand from data centers and new clean-energy manufacturing hubs.
How Hawaii made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Hawaii has relied heavily on imported oil to make electricity for the past two decades. But the state has an ambitious plan to generate all of its power from clean energy sources by 2045. In September 2022, Hawaii shut down its last coal-burning power plant, a major milestone towards that goal. Last year, there was no utility-scale coal generation in Hawaii for the first time since the early 1970s, but delays in the deployment of new solar and battery projects meant oil-fired generation ticked up.
The state recently opened a new, large-scale battery storage facility as part of its strategy to replace the coal power that was retired. (Battery charging and discharging is not shown in the charts above, which reflect net generation.)
Solar generation, mostly from small-scale rooftop panels, has grown rapidly in the state over the past decade and provided nearly 20 percent of Hawaii’s power last year. In total, about 31 percent of the state’s electricity was made by renewable sources in 2023.
How Idaho made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Hydro generated the vast majority of Idaho’s electricity during the 2000s and early 2010s. But in recent years, drought conditions have pushed down the amount of hydroelectric power produced in the state. Idaho still makes the majority of its electricity from renewable sources, with hydro providing 43 percent of in-state power generation last year and wind and solar together providing another 22 percent. But natural gas power has expanded significantly at the same time.
Idaho also imports a sizable amount of power from out of state to meet its electricity needs. In the past, much of this power has come from coal-fired generators in neighboring states, but Oregon closed its last coal plant in 2020 and other nearby coal plants are scheduled to shut down over the next several years. (Imports are not shown on the chart.)
How Illinois made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Nuclear energy has been Illinois’s top source of power generation for much of the last two decades, accounting for about half of the electricity produced in the state during most years. Coal was long the second-largest power source, briefly surpassing nuclear as the top generation fuel in 2004 and again in 2008. But coal’s role in the state power mix has declined significantly in recent years as older coal-fired power plants have retired or been converted to burn natural gas. Both natural gas and wind generation have grown over the past decade, and last year gas surpassed coal as the second-largest source of power in the state.
In 2021, Illinois set a goal of getting 100 of its power from carbon-free energy sources by 2050, but the state has struggled to meet shorter-term targets. Illinois produces considerably more electricity than it uses and sends about one-fifth to Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states through long-distance transmission lines. (Exports are not shown on the chart.)
How Indiana made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal fueled most of the electricity made in Indiana for more than two decades, but its share in the state’s power mix has declined as natural gas generation has taken off and older coal-fired power plants have retired. Last year, gas provided nearly 40 percent of the state’s electricity generation, up from 2 percent in 2001.
About 14 percent of the state’s electricity came from renewable sources last year, mostly wind. Over the past decade, Indiana has used more electricity each year than it produces within its borders and imported the rest from out of state. (Imports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Iowa made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Wind power has taken off in Iowa over the past decade, surpassing coal as the state’s top source of electricity in 2019. Wind turbines provided just 1 percent of the electricity produced in the state in 2001 and nearly 60 percent last year. Over the same period, coal-fired generation significantly declined.
In absolute terms, the state, one of the windiest in the country, was the second-largest producer of wind power last year, after Texas. But, as Iowa’s wind capacity has grown, so has local opposition to new projects. In recent years, a number of Iowa counties have paused the construction of new wind turbines and some solar projects, too.
In 1983, Iowa became the first state in the country to pass legislation requiring utilities to get some amount of electricity from renewable resources, but the state has not updated those standards since. Iowa exports some of its power to nearby states over the regional electric grid. (Exports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Kansas made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Kansas, like many states across the Great Plains, has seen significant growth in wind power over the past decade as developers put up thousands of turbines to capture the strong winds blowing across the open prairie. In 2019, wind surpassed coal to become Kansas’s largest source of electricity generation and has remained the state’s top power producer since then.
Kansas produces more power than it consumes and sends about a quarter to other states through the regional grid. (Exports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Kentucky made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal still generates the majority of the electricity produced in Kentucky, a longtime coal mining state. But a number of the state’s older, coal-fired power plants have shut down or been converted to burn natural gas over the past decade. Coal fueled 68 percent of the power produced in the state last year, down from more than 90 percent during most of the 2000s and early 2010s.
How Louisiana made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas has long provided the bulk of electricity generation in Louisiana, one of the top gas-producing states in the country. But as coal generation declined in recent years, gas further expanded its share of the state’s electric mix. Last year, gas accounted for 76 percent of electricity made in the state, up from 46 percent in 2001. During that time, coal-fired generation declined, dropping from its position as the second-largest source of power in the state to a distant third place.
Louisiana also imports some electricity from neighboring states. (Imports are not shown in the chart above.)
How Maine made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Most of the electricity generated in Maine last year came from renewable sources. Together, hydroelectric dams, wind turbines, solar arrays and biomass plants, which burn wood and other organic materials, produced about 69 percent of the state’s power.
However, the total amount of power generated in Maine, particularly from natural gas and petroleum, has declined significantly over the last two decades. The state now imports between 10 and 30 percent of its electricity each year from other nearby states and Canada. (Imports are not shown on the chart above.)
Maine has a goal of getting 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2050.
How Maryland made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal produced the bulk of Maryland’s power through the early 2010s, but its role in the state’s electricity mix has declined significantly over the last decade. Coal fueled just 5 percent of electricity made in the state last year, down from more than 40 percent a decade earlier (and an even greater share before then). Nuclear power became the largest source of electricity generation in 2015 and quickly growing natural gas power surpassed nuclear for the first time last year.
While solar power is still a small part of the state’s generation mix, it has grown rapidly over the past several years, beating out hydro as the state’s largest source of renewable electricity. Maryland requires that 50 percent of the electricity sold by utilities in the state come from renewable sources by 2030.
Maryland consumes more power than it generates and imports a significant amount of electricity from other Mid-Atlantic States through the regional grid. (Imports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Massachusetts made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas has expanded its share of electricity generation in Massachusetts over the past two decades as other sources of power have declined. Coal-fired generation petered out in the state by 2018. And petroleum, which is mostly used to meet peak electricity demand during the winter, now provides only a small fraction of the power it did two decades ago. The state’s only nuclear plant, which was responsible for between 10 and 20 percent of the state’s electricity generation in previous years, shut down permanently in 2019, partly because of competition from cheaper natural gas.
Only solar power has bucked the trend: The amount of electricity created from solar energy, largely through small-scale rooftop panels, has grown significantly since 2013 and now provides nearly a quarter of the state’s power. Still, Massachusetts makes less power today in absolute terms than it did two decades ago and now imports about half of its power from other Northeastern states through the regional grid. (Imports are not shown in the chart above.)
Massachusetts lawmakers have sought to encourage the adoption of more solar and wind power. (The state’s first offshore wind project started producing electricity this year.) The state requires utilities to get 80 percent of the electricity they sell from renewable sources by 2050.
How Michigan made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal was the top source of electricity produced in Michigan for most of the last two decades, but coal-fired generation declined steadily during the 2010s and 2020s as natural gas power expanded. After years of growth, gas became the state’s top source of electricity for the first time in 2020 and retook that top slot in 2022 and 2023. Nuclear was the second largest source of power produced in the state last year, with coal falling to third place.
Nuclear energy is the state’s largest source of emissions-free power. It fueled 23 percent of the electricity produced in the state last year. Wind power generated an additional 7 percent, and solar delivered less than 2 percent. Michigan recently set a goal to get 100 percent of its electricity from zero-carbon energy sources by 2040.
To shore up more emissions-free power, Michigan now wants to reopen a nuclear plant that shut down in 2022, with help from a $1.5 billion loan from the Biden administration. If the plan goes through, it would be the first shuttered nuclear plant to reopen in the United States.
How Minnesota made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal was the top source of electricity produced in Minnesota for years, but its generation share has declined over the last two decades and, in 2020, coal-fired power generation dropped below nuclear for the first time. Wind power, meanwhile, grew from 2 percent of the state’s total generation in 2001 to 25 percent in 2023. Wind became the state’s top power producer last year.
Emissions-free energy sources, including wind, solar and nuclear power, now provide more than 50 percent of the power produced in Minnesota. State law requires electric utilities to generate or procure 100 percent of their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040. Minnesota also imports some power from other states through the shared regional grid. (Imports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Mississippi made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas powered more than three-quarters of the electricity generated in Mississippi last year. Coal, once the state’s top source of electricity, has declined significantly over the past decade as natural gas prices have fallen. Coal provided 36 percent of the electricity produced in the state in 2001, but just 5 percent in 2023.
Mississippi produces more power than it uses and exports the surplus to other states. (Exports are not shown on the charts above.)
How Missouri made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Missouri’s electricity generation mix has been dominated by coal for more than two decades. Still, coal-fired power declined to 59 percent of all electricity generated in the state in 2023 from 82 percent in 2001 as older coal plants went offline or switched to natural gas. Gas- and wind-powered generation have made gains over the past decade, but, despite a dip in 2021, nuclear remains the state’s second largest source of power.
Missouri typically uses more electricity than it generates in-state and pulls power from other states through regional grids. (Electricity imports are not shown on the charts above.)
How Montana made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal has been the top source of electricity produced in Montana for most of the past two decades, but its share of the state’s generation mix has declined as wind power has grown and older coal-fired power plants have been retired. Hydro, long the state’s second-largest source of electricity, briefly surpassed coal as the top power-producer in 2020, but hydroelectric generation dropped significantly by 2023 amid drought conditions.
Montanans only use about two-thirds of the electricity produced in the state. Much of the rest is sent to Washington and Oregon via interstate transmission lines. New transmission projects are in development that could expand how much Montana-generated electricity moves to other states (and the other way around, when needed).
How Nebraska made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal has been the top source of electricity produced in Nebraska for more than two decades, but its generation share has declined in recent years as wind power has surged. The amount of nuclear power produced in Nebraska also declined after one of the state’s two nuclear plants, Fort Calhoun, permanently shut down in 2016 for economic reasons.
Nebraska, like many Great Plains states, has excellent wind resources, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, but as more wind turbines and solar farms have been built, local opposition to the projects has increased. Several Nebraska counties recently put in place moratoriums on new wind and solar projects, and others have instituted strict requirements for where they can be built.
Nebraska produces more power than it consumes at home and sends the rest to other states through long-distance transmission lines. (Exports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Nevada made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas surpassed coal as Nevada’s top source of power generation in 2005 and has been the state’s largest electricity supplier since. More recently, solar has surged to become the state’s second-largest source of electricity.
In the meantime, coal power has continued to decline. Many of the state’s older, coal-fired power plants have shuttered over the past two decades because of competition from cheaper natural gas and state laws that require renewable energy development. Nevada’s two remaining coal plants are scheduled to be converted to natural gas by 2026.
Last year, about 40 percent of the power produced in the state came from renewable energy. Large-scale solar arrays and rooftop panels provided 26 percent. Geothermal plants, which harvest heat from deep beneath the Earth’s surface, supplied an additional 10 percent. Most of the rest came from hydro. (The Hoover Dam, one of the country’s largest hydroelectric dams, sits on Nevada’s border with Arizona, providing power to both states.)
The rapid growth of solar power in recent years has prompted the state to strengthen its goals for renewable energy. Nevada law now requires that 50 percent of the electricity sold by utilities in the state come from renewable sources by 2030.
How New Hampshire made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
The bulk of electricity generated in New Hampshire over the past two decades has come from the state’s only nuclear reactor, Seabrook Station. Natural gas has been the state’s second-largest source of power since the early 2000s, when two new generating stations went online. The share of electricity supplied by coal has declined over the past two decades, shrinking to about 1 percent in 2023 from 25 percent in 2001.
New Hampshire currently generates about 16 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, mostly hydro and biomass, a type of energy that comes from burning wood and other organic matter. The state requires utilities to get 25 percent of the power they sell to customers from renewable sources by 2025, a target they can fulfill by purchasing renewable energy credits.
New Hampshire produces more power than it consumes and sends the excess to other New England states and Canada. (Exports are not shown on the chart above.)
How New Jersey made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Nuclear was the top source of electricity generation in New Jersey until 2015, when natural gas surpassed it for the first time. Over the past decade, natural gas and nuclear energy have produced almost all of the state’s electricity, but solar has made inroads, supplying 7 percent of power last year.
In 2018, the state’s Oyster Creek nuclear plant, the oldest in the country at the time, closed down, partly because of competition from cheaper natural gas. That same year, the New Jersey Legislature approved new subsidies to keep the state’s remaining three nuclear plants profitable. The governor, Philip D. Murphy, said the plants provided crucial, emissions-free power that would not contribute to climate change and pointed to “the thousands of jobs they support.”
New Jersey has a renewable energy standard that requires 35 percent of the electricity sold in the state to come from renewable sources by 2025, with that requirement increasing to 50 percent by 2030. To help reach those goals, the state wants to build wind farms off its coast, where there is considerable wind power potential. But proposed projects have stirred up fierce local opposition.
The state consumes more power than it produces within its borders and imports electricity from nearby states through the regional grid. (Imports are not included on the chart above.)
How New Mexico made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal was New Mexico’s primary source of electricity generation for most of the last two decades. But coal-fired power has declined since the 2000s in response to tougher air quality regulations, cheaper natural gas and California’s decision in 2014 to stop purchasing electricity generated from coal in neighboring states. Over the past decade, wind-powered generation has surged in New Mexico, and, in 2022, wind surpassed coal as the top source of electricity produced in the state.
New Mexico has some of the best wind, solar and geothermal energy resources in the country, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Last year, the state produced more than 46 percent of its power from renewable energy, mostly wind and solar. State law requires investor-owned utilities to get 50 percent of the electricity they sell from renewable sources by 2030, and 100 percent from a broader array of carbon-free sources by 2045.
The state already exports a significant amount of electricity to Arizona and California, but it could soon become an even bigger power supplier. Last year, officials broke ground on a major new transmission project that will send renewable wind power from central New Mexico to more-populated parts of the West. (Exports are not shown on the chart above.)
How New York made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas and nuclear energy have fueled the majority of New York’s electricity for the past two decades. But gas has expanded its role in the state’s power mix during that time, while nuclear generation declined in recent years. The state shut down its controversial Indian Point nuclear plant in 2021, causing nuclear generation to fall and greenhouse gas emissions to rise.
Last year, about 32 percent of the power produced in New York came from renewable sources, mostly hydro. The state turned on its first offshore wind farm at the end of the year but has struggled to get other offshore wind projects off the ground. The state’s ambitious climate law requires utilities to get 70 percent of the electricity they sell from renewable sources by 2030 and to shift entirely to carbon-free power a decade later.
New York tends to consume more electricity than it produces and currently imports power from neighboring states and Canada. (Electricity imports are not included on the chart above.)
How North Carolina made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal-fired power plants provided the majority of North Carolina’s electricity generation during the 2000s , but 32 of the state’s coal-burning units have retired since 2010 and coal’s share in the state electricity mix has dwindled. Natural gas, meanwhile, has surged to become North Carolina’s top source of power, generating more than 40 percent of the state’s electricity last year.
North Carolina also gets nearly a tenth of its power from solar. The state’s unique implementation of a decades-old federal mandate, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, helped encourage the development of utility-scale solar projects, but the growth of solar power has slowed in recent years.
In 2021, a bipartisan bill passed by state lawmakers required North Carolina’s largest utility, Duke Energy, to achieve a 70 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by the end of the decade. But this year, Duke Energy asked for more time to meet that deadline and for permission to build a fleet of new gas-burning power plants.
How North Dakota made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
As in many Great Plains states, wind power has grown rapidly in North Dakota. Last year, wind turbines generated 36 percent of the state’s electricity, more than twice as much as a decade before. But coal still dominates the state’s electric mix.
North Dakota has both substantial coal reserves and abundant wind. The state produces significantly more electricity than is consumed within its borders and sends about two-thirds to neighboring states and Canada through high-voltage transmission lines. (Exports are not included on the chart above.)
How Ohio made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal was Ohio’s main source of power for much of the last two decades, but a boom in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, brought cheaper natural gas in the 2010s and utilities shut down several large coal plants. Gas took over as the state’s top source of electricity in 2019 and now fuels nearly 60 percent of the state’s power generation.
Ohio produces an additional 12 percent of its electricity from two nuclear plants along Lake Erie, which have also faced stiff cost competition from gas. In 2019, Ohio lawmakers passed a bill that gave the state’s nuclear power plants more than $1 billion in subsidies to stay open, bailed out two coal plants and weakened the state’s renewable electricity requirements. The nuclear subsidies were repealed in 2021 amid a major public corruption scandal, but other parts of the law have remained in place.
Ohio gets a small portion of its power from renewable sources today: About 2 percent from wind energy and 1 percent from solar. More than one-fourth of Ohio counties have banned or restricted the construction of new wind or solar projects since 2021 when another state law gave county officials decision-making power over where to locate renewable energy.
How Oklahoma made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
The majority of Oklahoma’s power generation has historically come from fossil fuels, but wind power has surged in the state over the past decade. Coal was the state’s top power producer in the 2000s, but natural gas began competing for the top slot in the late 2000s and early 2010s and coal power declined sharply over the next decade. Wind power has grown quickly in the meantime, briefly becoming the state’s largest power producer in 2022 before dropping below gas again last year.
Oklahoma was the third-largest producer of wind power in the country last year, behind Texas and Iowa. The state generates more electricity than it consumes and sends its extra power to other states over the regional grid. (Exports are not included on the chart above.)
How Oregon made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Most of the electricity produced in Oregon in any given year comes from hydroelectric dams, but the exact amount can fluctuate depending on precipitation. Power from natural gas typically increases during drought years and decreases in years with ample rain and snow.
Over the past decade, wind has grown to become the third-largest source of electricity generated in the state. In an effort to encourage more non-hydroelectric renewable power, Oregon requires its large, investor-owned utilities to get 50 percent of the electricity they sell to customers from new renewable energy sources by 2040. Other utilities are subject to lower standards.
In most years, Oregon exports some of its power to nearby states. (Exports are not included in the chart above.)
How Pennsylvania made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal was Pennsylvania’s top source of electricity until 2014, but its role in the state’s power mix has declined sharply since then as natural gas has surged.
Gas production from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, unleashed a flood of cheap natural gas in Pennsylvania starting in the 2000s. As a result, electric utilities began closing down older coal plants in favor of newer gas-powered turbines.
Gas is now putting pressure on the state’s nuclear plants, too. After one of the state’s nuclear power plants, Three Mile Island, shut down in 2019, pro-nuclear groups sought state subsidies to keep the remaining reactors open, saying that the loss of this emissions-free electricity is bad news for climate change. Last year, nuclear fueled 32 percent of the state’s power generation, while other carbon-free sources supplied less than 4 percent.
Pennsylvania is the country’s third-largest producer of electricity, behind Texas and Florida, and the state is a major supplier of power to the rest of the Mid-Atlantic region. (Electricity exports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Rhode Island made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Natural gas dominates electricity generation in Rhode Island, but solar energy has grown quickly in recent years. Solar supplied 12 percent of the state’s electricity last year, up from less than 1 percent in 2017.
Rhode Island tightened its renewable energy standard in 2022 and now requires state electricity providers to get 100 percent of the power they sell to consumers from renewable sources by 2033. The state consumes more electricity than it generates and imports extra power through New England’s regional grid. (Imports are not included on the chart above.)
How South Carolina made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
The majority of the electricity generated in South Carolina has come from nuclear power for more than two decades. But generation from natural gas has more than doubled in the state over the past decade as coal power has declined. Gas overtook coal in 2018 as the state’s second-largest power producer.
In 2017, utilities in South Carolina abandoned plans to build two new nuclear reactors after major delays and billion-dollar cost overruns. The state produced less than 8 percent of its power from renewable sources last year, mostly solar and hydro.
South Carolina produces more power than it consumes and sends the surplus to neighboring states. (Exports are not included on the chart above.)
How South Dakota made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Hydroelectric dams supplied the bulk of electricity generation in South Dakota for much of the past two decades, but coal surpassed hydro as the state’s top power producer during three years — 2001, 2004 and 2008 — and, more recently, wind power has taken over.
Coal’s share of the state generation mix has declined significantly since the 2010s. Wind, however, has surged. Wind energy has been South Dakota’s top source of power since 2021, supplying more than half of the state’s electricity generation last year.
South Dakota makes much more power today than it did two decades ago and exports electricity across the Central and Western United States. (Exports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Tennessee made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal was Tennessee’s top source of electricity generation between 2001 and 2016, but its share of the state’s power mix has declined significantly over the past decade. In 2016, a new nuclear reactor was finally completed in Tennessee after decades of delays. In 2017, coal-powered generation dipped below nuclear for the first time in nearly two decades. More recently, growing natural gas generation has vied with coal as the state’s second largest power producer.
Tennessee consumes more power than it produces and makes up the shortfall by importing electricity from nearby states. (Imports are not included on the chart above.)
How Texas made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Texas produces more electricity than any other state, by a wide margin, and its power mix has long been led by natural gas. Coal-fired generation in the state has declined over the past decade as wind power has increased. In 2020, wind surpassed coal to become the second-largest source of electricity generation in Texas.
The state is, by far, the country’s largest producer of wind power today, with Iowa and Oklahoma in a distant second and third place. In recent years, solar power has also surged in the state, rising from 1 percent of the state’s electric mix in 2019 to 6 percent last year.
Utilities and businesses in the state have largely turned to wind and solar power because they’re so cheap to build, and not because of state mandates. However, the state has cleared many of the barriers to building new renewable projects and other energy infrastructure, creating “an environment where these things can thrive,” Dr. Lott of Columbia University said.
But even as power generation from renewable sources soars, in absolute terms, Texas continues to burn more natural gas and more coal than any other state.
Unlike most other states, Texas operates its own power grid, which is only minimally connected to the country’s other regional grids. That means Texas is largely dependent on its own resources to meet its electricity needs.
How Utah made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
The majority of electricity produced in Utah still comes from coal, but coal’s share of the state’s power mix has declined over the last decade as natural gas and solar generation have increased.
Solar is the largest renewable source of power in the state, providing 14 percent of Utah’s electricity generation last year. Utah has a goal for utilities to generate or procure 20 percent of the electricity they sell to customers from renewable sources by 2025.
The state produces more energy than it consumes and sends the surplus to nearby states, like California. (Exports are not included on the chart above.)
At least one Utah power plant is switching from burning coal to natural gas to comply with California’s stricter environmental regulations. But Utah lawmakers are looking at ways to keep the coal power plant running alongside the new gas facility.
How Vermont made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Most of the electricity generated in Vermont came from nuclear power until 2014, when the state’s only nuclear plant, Vermont Yankee, closed down. Since then, virtually all of the electricity produced in the state has come from renewable sources, including hydropower, biomass, wind and solar.
But Vermont now generates much less electricity, in total, than it did before the nuclear plant shut down and has to import a substantial amount of power from other New England states and Canada to satisfy demand. (Imports are not shown on the chart above.)
Vermont recently strengthened its renewable energy standard to require that 100 percent of electricity sold in the state come from renewable sources by 2035.
How Virginia made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal was the top source of electricity produced in Virginia between 2001 and 2008, but its share has declined since then. By 2015, natural gas had become the state’s largest source of electricity, a result of the nationwide boom in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which unleashed a wave of cheap, plentiful gas. Nuclear generation has provided a little more than one-third of Virginia’s electricity, on average, over the past two decades.
In 2020, Virginia’s Democratic-led Legislature passed a clean energy law that established new energy efficiency standards, set a schedule for closing old fossil fuel power plants and required the state’s two biggest utilities get all of their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2050. But a new, Republican administration has pushed to revise that law and shift the state’s focus toward an “all of the above” energy strategy that includes greater support for natural gas power.
The total amount of power produced in Virginia has been growing, but the state is also facing rising demand from power-hungry data centers. Dominion Energy, the state’s largest electric utility, has proposed meeting that demand with a mix of new renewable power and gas generation in a plan that could increase the company’s overall emissions.
Virginia currently consumes more electricity than it generates and gets additional power from two regional grids that serve the state. (Imports are not included on the chart above.)
How Washington made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Washington is the nation’s largest producer of hydroelectric power, which has dominated the state’s generation mix for more than two decades. The amount of power produced by hydro fluctuates from year to year with changes in precipitation, and other sources — including natural gas, nuclear, wind and coal — make up almost all of the rest.
Washington produces more electricity than it consumes and exports power to Canada and other Western states. (Exports are not shown on the chart above.)
In 2019, the state required its electric utilities to transition fully away from fossil fuels as a power source by 2045.
How West Virginia made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal still dominates West Virginia’s power mix. It has supplied more than 85 percent of the electricity produced in the state every year for more than two decades. While natural gas and wind have increased their generation share over the past decade, they still account for a relatively small portion of the electricity produced in the state.
In 2015, West Virginia became the first state to repeal its renewable energy standard after years of lobbying by conservative groups. The law required utilities to get 25 percent of their electricity from alternative and renewable energy sources by 2025. Opponents of the standard said it was hurting coal jobs and raising electricity rates, while supporters said it would help to diversify the state’s electric sector at a time when the national coal market was in decline.
The total amount of power generated by West Virginia has declined over the past two decades as coal power has been squeezed by competition from cheaper regional sources and older coal-fired power plants have retired. But the state still generates more electricity than it consumes and supplies a significant amount of power to other Mid-Atlantic States through the shared regional grid. (Exports are not pictured in the chart above.)
How Wisconsin made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
Coal was long Wisconsin’s top source of electricity generation, but, after years of rapid growth, natural gas took over as the state’s largest power producer in 2022. Wind and solar power have grown quickly in the state in recent years, but both sources remain relatively small players in Wisconsin’s electricity mix.
In 2019, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, set a goal for the state to shift to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050 and created a new state office to lead the transition. But the proposal has faced opposition from the Republican-led Legislature.
Wisconsin uses more electricity than it generates in-state, so it imports additional power from the regional electric grid. (Imports are not shown on the chart above.)
How Wyoming made electricity
from 2001 to 2023
Percentage of power produced from each energy source
The vast majority of electricity generated in Wyoming still comes from coal, but wind power has made inroads over the past decade. Last year, wind supplied more than a fifth of the electricity produced in the state.
Wyoming has been the country’s top coal-producing state for decades and the state is also home to “some of the greatest wind resources in the nation,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Because of its small population, Wyoming produces much more power than it consumes and sends about 60 percent out of state. Several major transmission line projects are currently in development to move more of Wyoming’s abundant wind power to other Western states. (Exports are not pictured in the chart above.)
Data notes and methodology
Data comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and reflects net electricity generation between 2001 and 2023, broken out by fuel source. The data includes utility-scale power generation and small-scale generation from technologies like rooftop solar, as well as industrial and commercial cogeneration. Data for 2023 is preliminary.
Cross-state imports and exports of electricity are not shown in the charts, but electricity routinely flows between states and most states belong in part or in whole to wider power markets. Still, each state has the power to shape its power-generation mix through regulations. How states generate electricity is also influenced by the availability of local and regional energy resources. For example: Abundant wind in the Midwest, plentiful sunshine in the Southwest, and local coal in West Virginia and Wyoming.
The charts do not reflect generation from pumped hydro or grid-scale battery storage because charging and discharging are not reported separately by the E.I.A.
