In March, renewable energy sources provided nearly 30% of U.S. electricity

Renewables are currently the second-largest source of U.S. electricity generation after natural gas, which averaged 40.5% of the sector in the first quarter of 2024 but fell to 39.4% in March.

The latest U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through March 31, 2024) shows that solar energy used by utilities and small-scale (e.g., rooftops) has increased by 25.7% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023.

Small-scale solar alone grew by 20.4%, while utility-scale solar and photovoltaic power grew by 28.4% – faster than any other energy source.

As a result, solar power accounted for 5.3% of total U.S. electricity generation in the first quarter of 2024 and continues to grow. Only in March its share increased to 6.9%, equaling hydroelectric power plants. Solar energy is expected to overtake hydropower to become the second largest source of renewable energy after wind in the next few months.

Small-scale solar power accounted for 31.5% of all solar power generation in the first quarter of 2024 and provided 1.7% of U.S. electricity supply.

Electricity production from hydro and wind farms showed signs of recovery in the first quarter after significant declines in 2023. Hydropower production increased by 4.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024. In March alone, hydropower production was 13.6% higher % higher than the level recorded in March 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, wind power was still down 2.8% year-over-year, but in March it was up 2.9% year-over-year.

Electricity production from all renewable energy sources – solar, wind, hydro, biomass and geothermal – increased by 3.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024 and contributed 24.7% of total production. In March alone, this share increased to 29.2% compared to 26.3% in March 2023.

Electricity production from solar and wind power combined (17.1%) exceeded coal power production (15.2%) in the first quarter of 2024 and almost doubled the share of coal in March alone (20.8% vs. 11.6%).

In the first quarter, electricity production from renewable sources exceeded that of US nuclear power plants by 30.3%. In March alone, the share of electricity from solar and wind combined (20.8%) was higher than that of nuclear energy (19.2%).

“More records were broken in March as wind and solar produced more electricity than nuclear or coal and solar came close to overtaking hydro,” noted executive director Ken Bossong of the SUN DAY Campaign, who reviewed the EIA data. “In March, the renewable mix provided nearly 30% of U.S. electricity generation and appears likely to exceed that level in the coming months.”

Read more: How renewable energy sources can beat natural gas in terms of generating capacity in the US within 3 years – in numbers

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