The latest issue of EIA's "Electric Power Monthly" report (with data through June 30, 2023) reveals that in the first six months of this year, electrical generation by the mix of renewables (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) accounted for 25.11% of U.S. electrical generation. That share is up slightly from the 25.06% reported for the first half of 2022.
Solar (including small-scale distributed systems) grew by 12.44%, compared to the same period in 2022. This was driven in large part by growth in "estimated" small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar PV whose output increased by 25.59% - more than any other energy source -and accounted for nearly a third (31.42%) of total solar production. For the six-month period, solar was 5.77% of total U.S. electrical generation. A year earlier, solar's share was 4.95%.
Moreover, in June - for the second time this year - solar's monthly electrical generation significantly exceeded that of hydropower (by 21.83% in April and by 28.57% in June).
From January to June, solar combined with wind accounted for 17.11% of the nation's electrical generation - up from 16.48% for the same period a year earlier. For the six-month period, solar plus wind easily surpassed coal's share (14.82%) as electrical generation by the latter plummeted by 27.33%.
Further, electrical generation by the mix of all renewables exceeded that provided by nuclear power - whose output fell by 0.67% - by more than a third (33.69%).
However, EIA's data also revealed some potentially worrisome trends for continued growth in electrical generation by renewable sources. Compared to the first six months of 2022, electrical generation by wind fell by 5.16% during the first half of this year. Most other renewables also recorded declines: hydropower down by 10.80%, wood + other biomass down by 7.80%, and geothermal down by 2.68%.
Notwithstanding those declines, renewables were still able to claim a slightly larger share of overall generation in the first half of 2023 compared to the same six-month period a year earlier because electrical generation by the mix of nuclear power and fossil fuels fell by even larger amounts while utility-scale and small-scale solar continued to grow.
The negative trend lines for renewables were even more pronounced in just the month of June when hydropower output was down by 27.00% compared to a year earlier while wind fell 17.97%. In fact, among renewable energy sources, only solar recorded some growth for the month (up 14.74%) compared to June 2022.
"Solar continues to show strong growth and is now rivaling the output of hydropower," noted the SUN DAY Campaign's executive director Ken Bossong. "Moreover, the mix of solar, wind and other renewables is maintaining a strong lead over both coal and nuclear power as well."
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Notes and Sources:
Unless otherwise indicated, the electricity figures cited above include EIA's "estimated small-scale solar photovoltaic" (e.g., rooftop solar systems) which accounted for 31.4% of total solar output and 7.2% of total net electrical generation by renewable energy sources during the first six months of 2023.
EIA's latest "Electric Power Monthly" report was released on August 24, 2023. For the data cited in this news release, see Table ES1.A "Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics 2023 and 2022" and Table ES1.B. “Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, Year-to-Date 2023 and 2022”at:
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=table_es1a
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=table_es1b
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The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1992 to support a rapid transition to 100% reliance on sustainable energy technologies as a cost-effective alternative to nuclear power and fossil fuels and as a solution to climate change. Follow on Twitter: @SunDayCampaign
