The Energy Information Administration recently published the full year 2022 electricity generation data for the US. Below are some highlights, as I see them.
Electricity generation from natural gas was again at an all-time high. Over 1,689 terawatt-hours were produced from natural gas last year. This was 7% higher than 2021. The next highest sources were coal at 829 TWh and nuclear at 771 TWh. Fossil fuels were the source of 59% of all US power generation.
Generation from coal was down from 2021, but higher than 2020. However, coal continues a long, slow decline as a source of electricity in the US.
Renewables continue to grow in the total share. Since natural gas is also growing, obviously utilities still need reliable sources of energy (such as nat gas, coal, nuclear and hydro) in order to keep the lights on.
From this report, I made a list of all electricity sources used in the US. The percent of total is included for each source.
2022 US Electricity sources
Percent of total
Natural gas 39.3%
Coal 19.3
Nuclear 17.9
Wind 10.1
Hydro 6.1
Solar PV 4.7
Wood 0.9
Geothermal 0.4
Petrol. Liquids 0.4
Other gas 0.3
Miscellaneous 0.3
Landfill Gas 0.2
Waste 0.2
Petrol. Coke 0.2
Solar Thermal 0.1
Pumped Storage -0.1
Notes: Solar PV includes small scale rooftop type solar installations.
Renewable sources:
- Pete