The United States has the second largest electricity sector in the world, with 4,430 Terawatt-hours of generation in 2025. In 2024 the industry earned $514b in revenue (1.8% of GDP) at an average price of $0.129/kWh.

There are three major synchronous electrical grids in the continental US: the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection and the Texas Interconnection. Within these physical grids, there are Independent System Operators and Regional transmission organizations, which are not-for-profit organizations that operate an area of the grid and are obliged to provide indiscriminate access to various suppliers (e.g. power plant owners, transmission line providers) to promote competition. Some areas instead have a vertically integrated utility like Southern Company where everything is done by one company.

The U.S. electricity sector is regulated by different public institutions with some functional overlaps. The federal government sets general policies through the Department of Energy. Economic regulation of the distribution segment is a state responsibility, usually carried out through Public Utilities Commissions; the inter-state transmission segment is regulated by the federal government through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Electricity generation grew by about 5.5% between 2015 and 2024, but with significant changes in composition over that time. In 2013 coal was 38.8% of generation, natural gas was 27.6%, nuclear was 19.4%, wind was 4.1%, hydro was 6.6%, and solar was 0.2%. Because of this shift, CO2 emissions have gone down by 30%.

Electricity generation

In 2023, US generation scale installed electricity generation summer capacity in the United States was 1161.43 gigawatts (GW), up 15.57 GW from 2021. The main energy sources for electricity generation include

Thermal/Fossil: 733.2 GW, up 1.38 GW (+0.02%) from 2021 Wind: 141.4 GW, up 8.65 GW (+6.52%) from 2021 Nuclear: 94.66 GW, down 0.89 GW (−0.93%) from 2021 Hydropower: 80.07 GW, up 0.16 GW (0.2%) from 2021 Solar: 143.8 GW, up 11.43 GW (+18.41%) from 2021 Solar (small scale estimate): 39.83 GW, up 6.75 GW (+20.4%) from 2021

Actual USA utility scale electricity generation in 2022 was 4230.723 terawatt-hours (TWh) and was up 134.883 TWh (3.29%) from 2021. The USA also imported 56.97 TWh and exported 15.758 TWh: making a total of 4271.88 TWh for consumption, up 114.78 TWh (2.78%) from 2021.

Electricity generation was primarily from the following sources: Thermal/Fossil: 2553.23 TWh, up 45.47 TWh (+1.8%) from 2021 Nuclear: 771.54 TWh, down 8.11 TWh (-1.0%) from 2021 Wind: 434.3 TWh, up 56.1 TWh (+14.83%) from 2021 Hydropower: 254.70 TWh, up 2.6 TWh (+3.2%) from 2021 Solar: 143.8 TWh, up 28.54 TWh (+24.76%) from 2021 Solar (small scale estimate): 61.28 TWh, up 12.12 TWh (+24.6%) from 2021

The share of coal and nuclear in energy generation is much higher than their share in installed capacity, because coal and nuclear plants provide base load and thus are running longer hours than natural gas and petroleum plants which typically provide peak load, while wind turbines and solar plants produce electricity when they can and natural gas fills in as required to compensate.

+Yearly electric energy generation by fuel source (TWh)"Electric Power Monthly" retrieved June 6, 2022 Year Fossil Fuel Nuclear Renewable Misc Total Coal Oil Gas subtotal Hydro Geothermal Solar Wind Wood Bio (other) subTotal2024* 652.16 15.09 1,880.75 2,548.00 781.87 242.90 15.41 219.83 451.90 31.56 14.86 976.46 16.12 4,322.45 Proportion 2024* 15.09% 0.35% 43.51% 58.95% 18.09% 5.62% 0.36% 5.09% 10.45% 0.73% 0.34% 22.59% 0.37% 100.0%2023* 675.12 16.23 1,817.84 2,509.19 774.87 245.00 16.37 165.53 421.14 31.62 15.59 895.25 22.87 4,202.18 Proportion 2023* 16.07% 0.39% 43.26% 59.71% 18.44% 5.83% 0.39% 3.94% 10.02% 0.75% 0.37% 21.30% 0.54% 100.0%2022* 831.51 22.93 1,698.79 2,553.23 771.54 254.79 16.09 143.79 434.30 35.46 16.38 900.82 46.29 4,271.882021* 898.0 19.17 1,590.56 2,507.76 779.65 251.59 15.98 115.26 378.2 36.46 17.79 815.27 46.34 4,149.012020 773.393 17.341 1,635.985 2,426.719 789.879 285.274 15.890 89.199 337.938 36.210 18.493 783.004 54.848 4,054.450 Proportion 2020 19.08% 0.43% 40.35% 59.85% 19.48% 7.04% 0.39% 2.20% 8.33% 0.89% 0.46% 19.56% 1.35% 100.0%2019 964.957 18.341 1,598.405 2,581.703 809.409 287.874 15.473 71.937 295.882 38.543 18.964 728.673 47.114 4,166.900 2018 1,149.49 25.23 1,482.40 2,657.11 807.08 292.52 15.97 63.83 272.67 40.94 20.90 706.82 51.53 4,222.532 20171,205.84 21.39 1,308.89 2,536.12 804.95 300.3315.9353.29254.30 41.15 21.61 686.6162.904,090.5820161,239.15 24.20 1,391.11 2,654.47 805.69 267.8115.8336.05226.99 40.95 21.81 609.4567.494,137.1020151,352.40 28.25 1,346.60 2,727.25 797.18 249.0815.9224.89190.72 41.93 21.70 544.2475.614,144.27 Proportion 2015 32.63% 0.68% 32.49% 65.81% 19.24% 6.01% 0.38% 0.60% 4.6% 1.01% 0.52% 13.13% 1.82% 100.0%20141,581.71 30.23 1,138.63 2,750.57 797.17 259.3715.8817.69181.655 42.34 21.65 538.5860.504,146.22013 1,581.12 27.16 1,137.69 2,745.97 789.02 268.57 15.78 9.04 167.84 40 20.83 522.07 55.64 4,112.72012 1,514.04 23.19 1,237.79 2,775.02 769.33 276.24 15.56 4.33 140.82 37.8 19.82 494.57 56.1 4,0952011 1,733.4 30.2 1,025.3 2,788.9 790.2 319.4 15.3 1.82 120.2 37.4 19.2 513.32 46 4,138.42010 1,847.3 37.1 999.0 2,883.4 807.0 260.2 15.2 1.21 94.7 37.2 18.9 427.4 33.3 4,151.0 Proportion 2010 44.5% 0.9% 24.1% 69.5% 19.4% 6.3% 0.37% 0.029% 2.3% 0.9% 0.5% 10.3% 0.8% 100.0%2009 1,755.9 38.9 931.6 2,726.5 798.9 273.4 15.0 0.89 73.9 36.1 18.4 417.7 41.4 3,984.42008 1,985.8 46.2 894.7 2,926.7 806.2 254.8 14.8 0.86 55.4 37.3 17.7 380.9 38.3 4,152.22007 2,016.5 65.7 910.0 2,992.2 806.4 247.5 14.6 0.61 34.5 39.0 16.5 352.7 36.6 4,188.02000 1,966 111 615 2,692 754 260 14 0.49 5.6 37.6 23 318.7 38.6 3,836Proportion 2000 51.3% 2.9% 16.0% 70.2% 19.7% 7.2% 0.37% 0.013% 0.15% 1.0% 0.6% 9.3% 0.9% 100.0%1999 1,881 118 571 2,570 728 319.5 14.8 0.50 4.5 37 22.6 392.8 55 3,723.8 Gas includes natural gas and other gases. Solar includes photovoltaics and thermal, excludes small scale photovoltaics. Misc includes misc generation, pumped storage, and net imports. Bio Other includes waste, landfill gas, and other. Hydro excludes pumped storage (not an energy source, used by all sources, other than hydro). Total includes net imports. 2021 and 2022 data is from Electric Power Annual 2022

The following tables summarize the electrical energy generated by fuel source for the United States. Electric Power Annual" Electric Power Annual". Retrieved October 30, 2023 for 2022 data.

+ Electricity generation in the United States in 2022"EPA Import/Export"Import/Export Eia.gov, retrieved 202-6-01"Existing Capacity" Existing Capacity Eia.gov. Retrieved October 30, 2023Power SourcePlantsSummer Capacity (GW)% of total CapacityCapacity factorAnnual Energy (billion kWh) % of Total U.S. Coal 242 189.3 16.30% 0.50 831.51 19.46% Nat Gas+ 2106 504.25 43.42% 0.38 1698.79 39.77% Nuclear 54 94.66 8.15% 0.93 771.54 18.06% Hydro 1445 80.07 6.89% 0.36 254.79 5.96% Other Renewables 7084 228.92 19.71% 0.32 646.03 15.12% Petroleum 1084 30.76 2.65% 0.09 22.93 0.54% Other 483 10.41 0.90% 0.12 11.11 0.26% Storage 40 23.04 1.98% -0.03 -6.03 -0.14% Net Imports 41.21 0.96% Total 12538 1161.43 100.00% 0.42 4271.88 100.00%

Fossil fuel

Fossil fuelsmainly coal and natural gasremain the backbone of electricity generation in the U.S., accounting for 68% of installed generation capacity in 2010 and 63.1% in 2022. Coal production has fallen significantly since 2007 with most of the losses being replaced by natural gas, but also a growing fraction of non-hydroelectric renewables.

In 2007 the Department of Energy estimated the planned additional capacity for 2008–12 at 92GW, most of which to be fueled by natural gas (48GW) and coal (19GW).

Nuclear power

As of 2007 in the United States, there are 104 commercial nuclear reactors in the US, generating approximately 20% of the nation's total electric energy consumption. For many years, no new nuclear plants have been built in the US. However, since 2005 there has been a renewed interest in nuclear power in the US. This has been facilitated in part by the federal government with the Nuclear Power 2010 Program of 2002."The Daily Sentinel." Commission, City support NuStart . Retrieved December 1, 2006 and the Energy Policy Act. As of March 9, 2009, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission had received applications for permission to construct 26 new nuclear power reactors However, as of 2013 most of the new applications had been abandoned due to the low cost of electricity generated with natural gas which had become available at cheap prices due to the boom in hydraulic fracturing; electricity produced using natural gas being 4 cents per kilowatt-hour versus 10 cents, or more, for nuclear.

Renewable energy

The following table summarizes the electrical energy generated by renewable fuel sources for the US. Data was obtained from Electric Power Annual 2022. (retrieved 2023-10-30] Credited data source: Energy Information Administration.

+ Electric Production by Renewables in 2022Power SourceSummer Capacity (GW)% of Renewable Capacity% of Total CapacityCapacity FactorAnnual Energy (billion kWh) % of Renewable Energy % of U.S. Generation Wind 141.4 45.74% 12.17% 0.35 434.3 48.21% 10.17%Hydro 80.07 25.90% 6.87% 0.36 254.79 28.28% 5.96% Solar 72.86 23.57% 6.27% 0.23 143.8 15.96% 3.37% Biomass 12.13 3.92% 1.04% 0.49 51.84 5.75% 1.21%Geothermal 2.65 0.86% 0.23% 0.69 16.09 1.79% 0.38%Total 309.11 100.00% 26.61% 0.33 900.82 100.00% 21.09% Note: Biomass includes wood and wood derived fuel, landfill gas, biogenic municipal solid waste and other waste biomass.

The development of renewable energy and energy efficiency marks "a new era of energy exploration" in the United States, according to President Barack Obama. In a joint address to the Congress on February 24, 2009, President Obama called for doubling renewable energy within the next three years. From the end of 2008 to the end of 2011 renewable energy increased by 35% and from the end of 2008 till the end of 2014, 41.4%. In reality it took twelve years instead of three to double as 2020 saw a 100% increase from 2008.

Renewable energy accounted for more than 22.4% percent of the domestically produced electric energy used in the United States in 2022, up from 12.2% in 2012. All renewables have increased by 1.92X in the last decade. Wind production in 2022 was 10.17% of all production and has grown 2.9X over the last decade. Over this same time period solar( including small scale) has increased by 13.1X and now provides 3.37% of US electric energy needs. Utility scale solar has grown 11.1X over the last decade and in the last eight years of estimating small scale solar it has grown by 5.4X.

According to a report by the Interior Department, U.S. wind power – including off-shore turbines – could more than meet U.S. electricity needs. The Department of Energy has said wind power could generate 20% of US electricity by 2030.

Several solar thermal power stations, including the new 64MW Nevada Solar One, have also been built. The largest of these solar thermal power stations is the SEGS group of plants in the Mojave Desert with a total generating capacity of 354 MW, making the system the largest solar plant of any kind in the world.

Electricity consumption

Electricity consumption data in this section is based upon data mined from US DOE Energy Information Administration/Electric Power Annual 2022 files"Electric Power Annual" retrieved October 30, 2023 In 2022 the total US consumption of electricity was 4,271.88 terawatt-hours (TWh). Consumption was up from 2021, by 122.87TWh or +2.96%. This is broken down as: