The latest data from the U.S. Vitality Data Administration (EIA) reveals that the combination of renewable vitality sources produced over one-quarter of the nation’s electrical era within the first three months of 2025 and offered almost one-third of whole U.S. electrical era in March particularly.
Credit score: ForeFront Energy
Utility-scale photo voltaic expanded by 43.9% whereas estimated small-scale/rooftop photo voltaic PV elevated by 11.1% in the course of the first quarter of 2025 in comparison with similar interval in 2024. The mixture of utility-scale and small-scale photo voltaic elevated by over one-third (33.7%) and was virtually 6.8% of whole U.S. electrical era for January via March — up from 5.3% a yr earlier. This implies solar-generated electrical energy surpassed the output of the nation’s hydropower crops (5.7%).
Furthermore, in March alone, electrical era by utility-scale photo voltaic elevated by 45.6% whereas that from small-scale techniques rose by 13.0%. Mixed, they offered 9.1% of the nation’s electrical output in the course of the month. That is based mostly on a overview of the information by the SUN DAY Marketing campaign.
Wind additionally obtained off to a robust begin in 2025, producing 9.5% extra electrical energy within the first three months of 2025 than the yr earlier than. That output was almost one-eighth (12.2%) of whole U.S. electrical era and greater than double that produced by the nation’s hydropower crops. In March alone, wind-generated electrical energy elevated by 11.1% and offered over one-seventh (14.8%) of the nation’s electrical energy provide.
Within the first quarter of 2025, electrical era by wind plus utility-scale and small-scale photo voltaic offered almost one-fifth (19.0%) of the U.S. whole, up from 17.0% in the course of the first three months of 2024. In simply the month of March, photo voltaic plus wind accounted for nearly one-fourth (23.9%) of U.S. electrical output.
Throughout the first three months of this yr, the mixture of wind and photo voltaic offered 6.8% extra electrical energy than did coal and 6.0% greater than the nation’s nuclear energy crops. In March alone, the hole elevated considerably when photo voltaic + wind outproduced coal and nuclear energy by 66.5% and 31.0%, respectively.
The combination of all renewables produced 10.5% extra electrical energy in Q1 than they did a yr in the past (12.5% extra in March alone) and offered over one-quarter (26.1%) of whole U.S. electrical energy manufacturing in comparison with 24.8% one yr earlier. Electrical era by the mixture of all renewables in March alone reached a brand new report and offered virtually one-third (31.9%) of whole U.S. electrical era. Furthermore, for the primary time, it got here near that of pure fuel (34.8%) whose electrical output dropped by 8.9%.
The combination of renewables has strengthened its place because the second largest supply {of electrical} era, behind solely pure fuel — with the hole closing quickly.
“Renewable vitality sources, led by photo voltaic and wind, are clearly outpacing fossil fuels and nuclear energy,” famous the SUN DAY Marketing campaign’s govt director Ken Bossong. “It subsequently defies logic that the Trump Administration and the Republican Congress can be making efforts to curtail that progress in favor of dirtier and costlier applied sciences.”
Information merchandise from SUN Day
