The United States already produces more energy from renewables than from coal

In the initial quarter of 2023, solar photovoltaic installations and wind farms in the United States generated a higher amount of electricity compared to coal-fired power plants. This information has been reported by the Energy Information Agency (EIA).

The most recent edition of the “Electric Power Monthly” report from the Energy Information Agency (EIA), which covers data up until March 31, 2023, affirms that during the first quarter of 2023, electricity generation from photovoltaic installations, including small distributed systems, witnessed a growth of 7.8% in comparison to the same period in 2022.

This increase is tied to the escalating interest in micro-installations, where electricity production from such systems surged by 24%, constituting nearly one-third (32.8%) of the overall solar energy output. The electricity generated by photovoltaics contributed to 4.4% of the total energy production in the United States.

Simultaneously, power generation by wind farms experienced a rise of 5.3%, representing 12.5% of the total electricity generation in the country. Together, photovoltaics and wind turbines accounted for 16.9% of energy production. When combined with other renewable sources like biomass, hydro power plants, and geothermal energy, the total contribution of renewable energy sources amounted to 24.9%.

In the initial quarter of 2023, coal’s portion in the U.S. energy mix witnessed a significant decline compared to the same period in 2022. Electricity production from coal plummeted by 28.6%, causing its share in total electricity generation to decrease to 15.6%.

We previously discussed the United States’ plans for partial decarbonization by 2050 in our article titled “Partial Decarbonization of the United States by 2050.”