US electricity generation by source, 2001 to 2025

Net electricity generation in the United States by source, in gigawatt hours per year, drawn as a streamgraph: natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, and conventional hydro on one band chart. The data comes from the Energy Information Administration's Form EIA-923 survey of utility-scale plants (one megawatt and larger) and is shown as annual totals. Petroleum, biomass, and other small sources are omitted so the six sources that decide the mix stay readable; band width is absolute generation, not share.

The bands tell the transition story. In 2001 coal was the widest band in the stream. In the latest year it carries 17 percent of the six-source total, against 41.7 percent for natural gas, 18.1 for nuclear, 10.7 for wind, 6.8 for solar, and 5.7 for hydro. The crossing points, gas passing coal in the mid-2010s and wind passing hydro at the decade's end, date the turnover more precisely than any announcement.