EIA Data Show Solar-Generated Electricity Surpassed Hydropower In March
Solar + Wind Produced More Electricity Than Either Coal Or Nuclear Power
Output By All Renewables Was Nearly A Third Of Total Generation And Closing In On Natural Gas
Washington DC – A review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data recently released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reveals that the mix of all renewable energy sources produced over a quarter of the nation’s electrical generation in the first three months of 2025 and provided nearly a third of total U.S. electrical generation in March.
Solar electrical generation set a new record for the first quarter:
In its latest monthly “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through March 31, 2025), EIA confirmed that solar remained among the fastest growing sources of electricity.
Utility-scale (i.e., >1-megawatt (MW)) solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 43.9% while “estimated” small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar PV increased by 11.1% during the first quarter of 2025 compared to same period in 2024. The combination of utility-scale and small-scale solar increased by over a third (33.7%) and was almost 6.8% of total U.S. electrical generation for January-March – up from 5.3% a year earlier. As a consequence, solar-generated electricity surpassed the output of the nation’s hydropower plants (5.7%). [1]
Moreover, in March alone, electrical generation by utility-scale solar increased by 45.6% while that from small-scale systems rose by 13.0%. Combined, they provided 9.1% of the nation’s electrical output during the month.
Wind also got off to a strong start in 2025:
Wind turbines across the U.S. produced 9.5% more electricity in the first three months of 2025 than they did a year before.
That output was nearly one-eighth (12.2%) of total U.S. electrical generation and more than double that produced by the nation’s hydropower plants.
In March alone, wind-generated electricity increased by 11.1% and provided over a seventh (14.8%) of the nation’s electricity supply. [2]
Wind + solar are now out-producing coal and nuclear power:
In the first quarter of 2025, electrical generation by wind plus utility-scale and small-scale solar provided nearly a fifth (19.0%) of the U.S. total, up from 17.0% during the first three months of 2024. In just the month of March, solar plus wind accounted for almost one-fourth (23.9%) of U.S. electrical output.
During the first three months of this year, the combination of wind and solar provided 6.8% more electricity than did coal and 6.0% more than the nation’s nuclear power plants. In March alone, the gap increased significantly when solar + wind outproduced coal and nuclear power by 66.5% and 31.0% respectively.
Electrical output by the mix of all renewables is closing in on natural gas:
The mix of all renewables (i.e., wind and solar plus hydropower, biomass and geothermal) produced 10.5% more electricity in January-March than they did a year ago (12.5% more in March alone) and provided over a quarter (26.1%) of total U.S. electricity production compared to 24.8% twelve months earlier.
Electrical generation by the combination of all renewables in March alone reached a new record and provided almost a third (31.9%) of total U.S. electrical generation. Moreover, for the first time, it came close to that of natural gas (34.8%) whose electrical output dropped by 8.9%.
For perspective, five years ago (i.e., March 2020), the mix of renewables provided 21.9% of total electrical generation while natural gas accounted for 41.9%. [3] A decade ago (i.e., March 2015), renewables provided a mere 15.1% of total generation while natural gas provided (30.5%); most of the balance was accounted for by coal (33.5%) and nuclear power (19.9%). [4]
Consequently, the mix of renewables has strengthened its position as the second largest source of electrical generation, behind only natural gas – with the gap closing rapidly.
EIA foresees continued, strong growth by solar, wind, and other renewables:
The growth of solar, wind, and other renewables is consistent with several forecasts issued by EIA during the past five months.
In its “Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory” report issued in late December 2024, EIA noted that it expected 32.5-GW of new utility-scale solar capacity to be added to the grid in 2025 along with 7.7-GW of new wind capacity and 18.2 GW of utility-scale battery storage [5]
Similarly, in early spring EIA released its “Annual Energy Outlook 2025” report which explores potential longer-term U.S. energy trends. In it, the agency foresees a nearly 50% increase in installed solar capacity between the end of 2024 and the end of 2028 – i.e., the term of the current Trump Administration. Moreover, electrical generation by grid-connected PV solar during that time would more than double from 201.1 billion kilowatt-hours (bKWh) to 420.1 bKWh. On-shore wind generation would rise from 153.4 bKWh to 175.4 bKWh while off-shore wind could increase from 0.2 bKWh to 18.7 bKWh. [6]
Finally, in its “Short-Term Energy Outlook” report issued in early May, EIA projected 26.3% growth in solar installations in 2025, increasing from 121-GW of installed capacity at the end of 2024 to 153-GW by the end of this year. It expects another 19.5% growth in cumulative capacity next year, reaching 182-GW by the end of 2026. During that period, actual generation would grow from 0.217 trillion kilowatthours (tKWh) to 0.343 tKWh. Wind would expand from 0.453 tKWh to 0.494 tKWh. [7]
“Renewable energy sources, led by solar and wind, are clearly outpacing fossil fuels and nuclear power,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director Ken Bossong. “It therefore defies logic that the Trump Administration and the Republican Congress would be making efforts to curtail that growth in favor of dirtier and more expensive technologies.”
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Source:
EIA released its latest “Electric Power Monthly” report on May 22, 2025. The full report can be found at: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly
For the data cited in this release, see Table ES1.A (“Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, 2025 and 2024”) as well as Table ES1.B (“Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, Year-to-Date 2025 and 2024”).
Notes:
[1] In its “Electric Power Monthly” report, EIA refers to small-scale or distributed solar as “Estimated Small Scale Solar Photovoltaic.” Unless otherwise indicated, all calculations presented in this release include electrical generation by small-scale solar which EIA estimates to have totaled 19,302 gigawatthours (GWh) in January-March 2025 and 8,069-GWh in March alone. Utility-scale solar totaled 54,797-GWh for the first quarter and 23,067-GWH in just March.
[2] In January-March 2025, wind produced 133,742-GWh (12.2%) of total U.S. electrical generation while utility-scale and small-scale solar combined produced 74,099-GWh (6.8%) and hydropower produced 62,558-GWh (5.7%).
[3] U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Electric Power Monthly” (May 2020) https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/archive/may2020.pdf
[4] U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Electric Power Monthly” (May 2015) https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/archive/may2015.pdf
[5] U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Solar, Battery Storage to Lead New U.S. Generating Capacity Additions in 2025” (February 24, 2025) https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=64586
[6] U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Annual Energy Outlook 2025” (April 15, 2025) https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/data/browser/#/?id=16-AEO2025&cases=ref2025&sourcekey=0
[7] U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Short-Term Energy Outlook” (May 6, 2025) https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/electricity.php (see Figure 30)
* This article was originally published here
