Data for the United States for 2021 (except where noted).
Note: MW = megawatts, MWh = megawatthours, KW = kilowatts, and kWh = kilowatthours
Electricity generation from utility-scale power plants (net generation) 1 | |
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Total net generation | 4,108,303 thousand MWh or about 4.11 trillion kWh |
Share of total net generation by energy source | |
Natural gas | 38.4% |
Coal | 21.9% |
Nuclear | 18.9% |
Nonhydroelectric renewables total | 13.7% |
Wind | 9.2% |
Solar (total) | 2.8% |
Biomass (total) | 1.3% |
Geothermal | 0.4% | Hydroelectric (conventional) | 6.1% |
Petroleum and other sources 2 | 0.9% |
Number of electricity generators | 24,645 |
Largest power plant by net generation | Palo Verde (nuclear)—31,629,862 MWh or about 31.6 billion kWh |
Electricity generation capacity of utility-scale power plants (net summer capacity) 1 | |
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Total net capacity |
1,145,856 MW or about 1.15 billion KW |
Share of capacity by energy source | |
Natural gas | 42.9% |
Coal | 18.3% |
Nonhydroelectric renewables total | 18.3% |
Wind | 11.6% |
Solar (total) | 5.4% |
Biomass (total) | 1.1% |
Geothermal | 0.2% |
Hydroelectric (total) | 9.0% |
Conventional hydro | 7.0% |
Pumped storage hydro | 2.0% |
Nuclear | 8.3% |
Petroleum (total) | 2.5% |
Other | 0.7% |
Total may not equal 100% because of independent rounding. | |
Largest power plant by capacity | Grand Coulee Dam (hydroelectric)—7,079 MW |
Electricity consumption (end use) and price | |
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Total end use | 3,944,789,321 MWh or about 3.94 trillion kWh |
Share of end use by type | |
Electricity retail sales (total) | 96.5% |
Direct use of electricity | 3.5% |
Electricity retail sales and shares by sector | 3,805,874,253 MWh or about 3.81 trillion kWh |
Residential sector | 38.6% |
Commercial sector | 34.9% |
Industrial sector | 26.3% |
Transportation sector | 0.2% |
Largest electric utility by retail sales (within state) | Florida Power & Light Company—112,395,915 MWh or about 112 billion kWh |
Retail prices by sector (average annual) | |
Residential | 13.66 cents per kWh |
Commercial | 11.22 cents per kWh |
Industrial | 7.18 cents per kWh |
Transportation | 10.20 cents per kWh |
Average (all sectors) | 11.10 cents per kWh |
State retail price rankings (average annual price for all sectors) | Highest—Hawaii at 30.31 cents per kWh Lowest—Idaho at 8.17 cents per kWh |
Average residential monthly consumption | 886 kWh |
Average residential monthly bill | $121.01 |
Largest electric utility by retail sales revenues (within state) | Florida Power and Light—$11.38 billion |
Emissions | |
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Emissions from electric power plants | |
Carbon dioxide (CO2) | 1,651,911 thousand metric tons (about 1.65 billion metric tons or about 1.82 billion short tons) |
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) | 1,168 thousand metric tons (about 1.17 million metric tons or about 1.29 million short tons) |
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) | 1,253 thousand metric tons (about 1.25 million metric tons or about 1.38 million short tons |
1 Utility-scale power plants have at least one MW of electric generation capacity.
2 Includes petroleum coke, petroleum liquids, other gases, other miscellaneous sources not included above, and pumped-storage hydroelectricity.
Last updated: November 17, 2022, with most recent data available at the time of update.