Visualizing 75 Years Of America’s Electricity Transition

Over the past 75 years, the U.S. electricity system has shifted from one dominated by coal to one in which natural gas and renewables supply nearly two-thirds of generation.

This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Niccolo Conte, shows annual U.S. electricity generation by source from 1950 to 2025 using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It tracks output in billions of kilowatt-hours and each source’s share of the electricity mix over time.

Natural Gas and Renewables Lead U.S. Electricity Generation

Coal supplied 46.4% of U.S. electricity in 1950 and remained the country’s largest power source for decades. By 2025, however, its share had fallen to 16.6%. Natural gas moved in the opposite direction, rising from 13.5% to 40.8% and overtaking coal in 2016.

The table below shows each energy source’s share of total U.S. electricity generation at 15-year intervals from 1950 to 2025.

Renewables reached a 24.0% share in 2025 and have remained ahead of coal since 2022. Together, natural gas and renewables supplied 64.8% of U.S. electricity that year.

Coal peaked at 56.9% of the electricity mix in 1988. By 2025, no single source accounted for a majority of U.S. generation.

Coal Declined as U.S. Electricity Generation Surged

Coal generation peaked at 2,016 billion kWh in 2007. By 2025, it had fallen to 737 billion kWh, a decline of 63.4%.

Meanwhile, natural gas generation expanded rapidly with the growth of efficient combined-cycle power plants and abundant shale gas, rising from 45 billion kWh in 1950 to 1,807 billion kWh in 2025.

The table below shows U.S. electricity generation by source at 15-year intervals, measured in billions of kWh:

Over the same period, total U.S. electricity generation rose from 334 billion kWh to 4,430 billion kWh. Natural gas accounted for about 43% of the overall increase, illustrating how it absorbed much of the system’s long-term growth.

The national shift is also visible at the regional level. A recent Visual Capitalist map of what powers each U.S. state and Canadian province shows natural gas as the leading electricity source across much of the United States.

Renewables Set a New Generation Record in 2025

Renewable generation rose to a record 1,064 billion kWh in 2025, equal to 24.0% of total electricity production. That was 93 billion kWh more than in 2024 and nearly twice the 539 billion kWh generated in 2015.

The complete dataset for U.S. electricity generation by source from 1950 to 2025 is available below:

Renewables first edged above coal in 2020, fell back below it in 2021, and moved ahead again in 2022. They remained the larger source through 2025. Renewables also surpassed nuclear in 2021 and have stayed ahead since, while nuclear generation held relatively steady at about 785 billion kWh in 2025.

As U.S. electricity demand records its strongest three-year growth stretch since before the global financial crisis, natural gas and renewables are supplying much of the increase, including demand linked to AI data centers.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out this map, What Powers Each U.S. State and Canadian Province?, on Voronoi.