Solar generates more energy in US than coal for first time

[riversedge]

Source: the guardian


Solar supplied 12.8% of US electricity in May even as Trump boosts coal over clean energy

Thu 11 Jun 2026 06.00 EDT


Even as Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the US and remains the leading source of new power.

Data released Wednesday by global energy thinktank Ember, along with a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (Seia) and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the United States despite federal policy. In May, for the first time, solar supplied more of the nation’s electricity than coal, or 12.8%, Ember said. Coal supplied 12.2%, its fourth-lowest monthly share ever.

“For years solar power has risen in the US electricity mix,” said Nicolas Fulghum, senior energy and data analyst at Ember. “At the same time, coal power has lost its status, first as the largest source in the US mix, and then gradually over the years has fallen even further.”

Solar also became the third-largest source of electricity in the US in May, behind natural gas and nuclear, Fulghum said. Coal generation hit an all-time monthly low in April and rebounded only modestly in May, allowing increasing solar generation to overtake coal, he added.

Electricity is produced by converting sources of energy – fossil fuels, renewable resources and nuclear – into electrical power. Burning coal, oil and natural gas for electricity emits carbon dioxide, trapping heat in the atmosphere and warming the planet. By contrast, solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower and nuclear are carbon-free................


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/11/solar-energy-us-coal?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

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After about two decades of essentially flat electricity consumption in the US, electricity demand is increasing to power artificial intelligence, grow domestic manufacturing and electrify transportation and heating.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

— (@oceancalm.bsky.social) 2026-06-11T12:37:28.297Z

[lamp_shade]

1. Yessssssssssssssssssssss

[ChicagoTeamster]

2. Trump will try to put an end to that the way he ended wind farm development.

[Miguelito Loveless]

3. This month is 11 years that solar has sat quietly on my roof

and generated power for my home. Since 2018 (the year I sold my last gas car) it has provided 100% of my heating, cooling, lights, cooking, and transportation. My utility currently pays me a monthly fee to periodically tap my batteries to balance the grid during times of high demand.

This is not the future, this is now.

And yet I talk to people daily who treat solar as impractical, dirty, and/or dangerous. My amortized cost of electricity over the expected life expectancy of my array (25 years) is 5¢/kWh, about 1/3 the current rate from my utility. Based on the current average MPG for ICE cars, I am paying slightly over 45¢/gallon to drive.

Solar works
Heat pumps work
EVs work.

Anyone who tells you different is doing the bidding (knowingly or unknowingly) of Big Oil.

[ClaudetteCC]

6. That is awesome!

Unfortunately not all electrical utilities companies/cities play nice with home solar but you must have a good one.

[Miguelito Loveless]

8. Duke Energy

Not nice, and still fossil oriented. They like renewables as long as they are the ones owning it. They had "quotas" on residential solar hook ups for years. They are also pushing nuclear, despite the fact that for the same money you can have an equal amount of solar/wind/battery with twice the power and within three years. Nuclear takes 15-20 years and usually runs 300% over budget.

[Botany]

4. Meanwhile President Fuck Nuts is doing this:

Last week, Trump, a Republican, announced a plan to boost the struggling US coal industry by spending nearly $700m to support coal-fired power plants and coal exports. Trump said at a White House event that “coal’s a great business” and that “in terms of power, there’s really nothing like it”.

[Martin68]

5. Great news. No wonder Trump is wasting hundreds of millions of OUR money shore up the coal industry.

West Virginia, Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, Missouri, and Utah still generate more then 80% of their electricity using coal, so I guess Trump gets votes for that.

[ClaudetteCC]

7. I love the idea of rooftop solar

But am not so enthused by farmland usage. We have a local ancient riverbed nearby from the last ice age. It has some of the best soil for ag possible. I had a garden plot in the area and once the grass and weeds were removed it could be dug by hand. Some solar outfit wants to build an array on this land because it is flat.