Wind and solar generated a record 17% of U.S. electricity in 2025

[Caribbeans]

Wind and solar generated a record 17% of U.S. electricity in 2025

U.S. Energy Information Administration | March 20, 2026

Over the past 20 years, electricity from wind power and utility-scale solar power has increased to 17% of generation in the United States compared to less than 1% in 2005. In 2025, net generation of wind and solar together accounted for 760,000 gigawatthours (GWh) of electricity, 88,000 GWh more than in 2024, according to data from our Electric Power Monthly. We classify a power plant as utility-scale if it has at least 1 megawatt of generating capacity.

In 2025, wind power generated 464,000 GWh of electricity, 3% more than in 2024. In 2025, utility-scale solar power generation totaled 296,000 GWh, 34% more than in 2024. Electricity generation from utility-scale solar has increased every year since 2006. According to our Electricity Data Browser, small-scale solar generation, which we began estimating in 2014, has also grown, and in 2025 totaled 93,000 GWh, 11% more than in 2024. Combining utility-scale and small-scale solar generation in 2025 increases the share of wind and solar to 19% of total net generation...more
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=67367

And some call Solar panels and Wind turbines "junk". No wonder China leads the sectors!

Ignorant and PROUD!

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Where would we be without it?

[NNadir]

4. Living in a sustainable world?

[thought crime]

2. Wind & Solar Systems are now at industrial scale

This is a huge global success story. The fact that D.Trump is so engaged in a war against renewable energy tells us these systems are viable and are cutting fossil fuel profits. The record 17% of electricity is great but it should be much higher. Artificial barriers must be removed to encourage full use of these effectively limitless resources.

Hydrogen can be produced using both Solar and Wind energy and next big step will be the development of systems using hydrogen fuel cells and the supporting infrastructure for such systems.

[NNadir]

3. Um, well, duh, that means 83% of American electricity is produced by other means, particularly at times it's actually...

...needed.

If there was ever a statement of failure, in 2026, with the climate collapsing, this latest statement of "percent talk" for an industry that soaked up trillions of dollars, this would be it.

This trivial result comes despite the destruction and industrialization of vast stretches of once pristine wilderness.

Even the appalling antinuke moron Little Benji Sovacool is recognizing exactly how obscene this is:

Dead Sea of Solar Cells: Antinuke Little Benny Sovacool Discovers that Deserts Are Actually Vital Ecosystems.

We are using more fossil fuels than ever, and the atmosphere is collapsing at the highest rate ever. Of course, "renewable energy will save us" antinukes have never, ever, given a flying fuck about fossil fuels. It's why members of their cult come around here trying to rebrand fossil fuels as "hydrogen."

Advocates for this obscenity clearly and obviously lack a sense of decency.