In its latest monthly ‘Electric Power Monthly’ report (with data through January 31, 2025), EIA says utility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 57.7 percent while “estimated” small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar PV increased by 12.0 percent. The combination of utility-scale and small-scale solar increased by 42.6 percent in January 2025 compared to January 2024.
Solar power thus remained among the fastest growing sources of electricity in the US, accounting for nearly 5.1 percent of total US electricity generation for the month – up from 3.8 percent a year earlier.
Meanwhile, wind turbines across the US produced 24.9 percent more electricity in January than they did a year earlier, representing 10.7 percent of total US electricity generation and more than double that generated by US hydropower plants (5.2 percent).
Electrical generation in January 2025 by wind plus utility-scale and small-scale solar was nearly a third (30.1 percent) greater than a year earlier. Combined, they provided 15.8 percent of total electrical generation, up from 12.8 percent in January 2024.
The mix of all renewables (i.e., wind and solar plus hydropower, biomass and geothermal) produced 18.0 percent more electricity in January than a year ago and provided 22.3 percent of total US electricity production compared to 20.0 percent twelve months earlier.
Electrical generation by the combination of all renewables was 9.3 percent more than that provided by coal and 26.7 percent more than that produced by the nation’s nuclear power plants.
Consequently, the mix of renewables retained their position as the second largest source of electrical generation, behind only natural gas.
“The expansion of both solar and wind in January was nothing less than explosive” noted the SUN DAY Campaign's executive director Ken Bossong. “It’s now up to the Trump Administration to justify why it wants to slow or even reverse renewables’ growth in favor of natural gas whose output in the same month actually dropped by 2.3 percent.”
For additional information:
