U.S. electricity generation resource portfolios continued to shift in 2022, with natural gas and renewables increasing their shares of total electric power generation, as coal's share continued to decline, according to data released by federal energy regulators.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration tracks national electric power generation, among other energy metrics. According to EIA, in 2022 the U.S. electric power sector produced 4,090 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of electric power. The greatest fraction of this power came from natural gas, whose contribution increased from 37% of U.S. generation in 2021 to 39% last year.
Renewables continued to grow, led by gains from wind and solar whose combined share of total generation increased from 12% in 2021 to 14% last year. EIA notes that utility-scale solar capacity grew from 61 gigawatts (GW) in 2021 to 71 GW in 2022, while wind grew from 133 GW to 144 GW. Hydropower (6%), and biomass and geothermal (each less than 1%) resource contributions remained stable year-over-year.
Meanwhile, coal-fired power generation continued to decline, decreasing from 23% in 2021 to 20% in 2022. This continues a general trend of declining U.S. electricity generation from coal, which historically fueled most electric power generation, but which was displaced by natural gas in the last decade. Natural-gas-fired power plants typically emit less than half as much carbon dioxide per unit of electricity generation as compared to coal-fired plants. Many coal-fired plants have retired or are facing increased economic pressures to retire, while other coal plants have seen less use. Nuclear power's contributions also decreased slightly last year, falling from 20% in 2021 to 19% in 2022. The Palisades nuclear power plant retired in May 2022.
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