The U.S. generated more electricity in 2025 than in any year on record, while wind and solar supplied a far larger share than they did two decades ago. The grid is changing quickly, so familiar electricity facts often need a date attached.
These 16 facts use the latest full-year U.S. Energy Information Administration data available in 2026 and explain what the numbers mean without blurring power, energy, capacity and generation.
16 current facts about electricity
1. Electricity is a secondary energy source
Electricity is an energy carrier produced by converting primary sources such as natural gas, nuclear fuel, sunlight, wind and moving water. Electricity itself is not classified as renewable or nonrenewable.
2. Supply and demand must stay balanced
Grid operators continuously match generation and demand. A mismatch affects system frequency, so generators, storage, demand response and transmission all help keep the system balanced.
3. U.S. generation reached a record in 2025
Utility-scale generators produced about 4.43 trillion kWh in 2025, up 2.8% from 2024.
4. Natural gas remained the largest source
Natural gas supplied about 41% of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation in 2025.
5. Renewables supplied about 24%
Wind, hydropower, solar, biomass and geothermal together produced about 24% of utility-scale generation in 2025.
6. Nuclear supplied about 18%
Nuclear plants produced about 18% of utility-scale electricity, making nuclear the second-largest individual source after natural gas.
Coal supplied about 17% of utility-scale generation in 2025, down from roughly 52% in 1990.
8. Wind and utility-scale solar reached 17%
Wind and utility-scale solar generated 760 billion kWh in 2025, equal to 17% of U.S. utility-scale generation. Their combined share was less than 1% in 2005.
9. Rooftop solar changes the total
When EIA’s estimate for small-scale solar is included, wind and solar together supplied about 19% of total net generation in 2025.
10. Small-scale solar generated about 93 billion kWh
Residential and commercial systems below 1 MW produced an estimated 93 billion kWh in 2025.
11. Utility-scale solar grew 34% in one year
Utility-scale solar generation reached about 296 billion kWh in 2025, 34% more than in 2024.
12. Wind generated more electricity than utility-scale solar
Wind produced about 464 billion kWh in 2025, compared with about 296 billion kWh from utility-scale solar.
13. Capacity is not the same as generation
Capacity is the maximum power a generator can supply under stated conditions. Generation is the energy it actually produces over time. A source can have a large capacity share without producing the same share of annual energy.
14. The U.S. had about 1.28 million MW of utility-scale capacity
At the end of 2025, utility-scale electricity-generation capacity totaled about 1,280,799 MW.
15. Homes and commercial buildings each used about 37% of retail electricity
Residential customers accounted for about 37% of 2025 retail sales, commercial customers another 37%, and industrial customers about 26%.
16. The first U.S. electricity sale powered 21 lights
EIA traces the first commercial U.S. electricity sale to San Francisco in 1879, where the California Electric Light Company supplied enough power for 21 arc lights.
How to read electricity statistics
Check the year, geography and whether a figure covers utility-scale generation, small-scale systems, capacity or retail sales. Those categories answer different questions and should not be combined casually.
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