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The U.S. hit a major energy-transition milestone last year: For the first time ever, it produced more electricity from wind and solar than from coal.
Over half of U.S. states now get more power from breeze-blown turbines and sun-soaked photovoltaic panels than they do from polluting, planet-warming coal, according to a new report from think tank Ember.
Coal is the most environmentally destructive source of electricity available. For a long time, it was the most widely used power resource in the U.S., too.
Two decades ago, the country got about half of its electricity from coal-fired power plants. Today that number is just 15%. Wind and solar have ascended over the same time period. Together they now produce 17% of U.S. electricity, and solar is set to lead power capacity additions again this year.
Beyond their climate benefits, renewables beat coal on economics. A 2023 report found that all but one U.S. coal plant could be cost-effectively replaced by a combination of solar, wind, and batteries, though that finding relied on Inflation Reduction Act tax credits that some Republican lawmakers want to repeal.
The rise of cheap fossil gas spurred by the fracking boom has also played a key role in phasing out coal. Gas use has soared in the decades that coal has declined; it alone produced nearly 43% of U.S. power last year.
In 2025 the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects that 8.1 gigawatts worth of coal will be retired from the grid — equal to nearly 5% of the nation’s operating coal fleet as of 2024. Over the next five years, 120 coal plants are slated to shutter, helping reduce the carbon intensity of electricity and air pollution for local communities.
In other words, the yearslong decline of coal is set to continue. Unless, that is, the Trump administration’s burgeoning effort to rescue the industry succeeds.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum both said last week that the government is working to halt coal plant closures. And just this week, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he is authorizing his administration “to immediately begin producing energy with BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN COAL.”
No specific plans have yet been announced.
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