The energy mix of the USA

The chart shows how much electricity is generated in the USA from various energy sources. This is typically referred to as energy mix or power generation mix. The numbers on this page are our calculations based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Looking at the last five years of available data ending in 2020, the electricity generation in the USA, measured in billion kilowatthours per year, is as follows: 2571.27 from fossil fuels including coal, natural gas, and oil; 277.56 from wind; 92.62 from solar installations; 286.76 from hydro; 803.4 from nuclear power plants; and 15.82 from geothermal sources.

The table shows the relative importance of the various energy sources in terms of their percent of the total electricity generation in the USA. The calculations are based on the latest five years of available data. For comparison, the table also shows the average values for the world and for the Americas.

In the Americas, the main energy source is fossil fuels with 53.94 percent of the total energy produced. For the world as a whole, fossil fuels are also the main energy source with 62.05 percent. In the USA the greatest share of electricity is generated from fossil fuels as well with 63.53 percent A greater percent of the electricity in the USA is produced from fossil fuels compared to the rest of the world.

Energy source	Percent of the total electricity generation in the USA	Percent of the total electricity generation in the Americas	Percent of the total electricity generation for the world
Fossil	63.53	53.94	62.05
Wind	6.86	6.29	6.36
Solar	2.29	1.85	3.36
Hydro	7.09	22.45	17.35
Nuclear	19.85	15.07	10.54
Geothermal	0.39	0.39	0.34