In 2024, wind and solar together generated more electricity than coal for the first time in the US, while solar rose more than gas to meet increased demand growth.
The United States’ shift towards clean electricity continued in 2024, as wind and solar together rose to 17% of total electricity generation, surpassing coal, which dropped to an all-time low of 15%.
After nearly 14 years of stagnation, electricity demand is now firmly rising. It increased by 3%, marking the fifth-highest rise this century, partly as a rebound to a milder summer in 2023, when electricity demand fell by 1.3%. Rising demand drove an increase in gas generation, which grew three times more than the decline in coal, increasing power sector CO2 emissions.
However, solar generation met more of the rise in electricity demand and fall in coal than gas did. Solar (+64 TWh) added more generation than gas (+59 TWh) and together with wind (+32 TWh), contributed to the continued decline of coal (-22 TWh) and meeting high electricity demand growth (+128 TWh). It remained the fastest-growing source of electricity, with its generation rising by 27% in 2024, surpassing hydro generation for the time.
The expansion of solar and wind helped limit the increase in gas generation. Without solar and wind growth, gas would have needed to rise by 9%— more than double its actual increase (3.3%)— to meet rising demand and coal’s small decline.
Although there was a slight rise in overall fossil generation and CO2 emissions (+0.7%), the rise in power demand was much faster than the rise in power sector emissions making per unit electricity the cleanest it has ever been.
