How many power plants are in the United States?
As of March 2026, there are 57 nuclear power plants in the United States with 96 reactors at about 103,581 megawatts (MW) of generator nameplate capacity. There are 219 coal power plants in the United States with 462 generators at about 188,952 MW of generator nameplate capacity. Utility-scale power plants have a total nameplate electricity generation capacity of at least 1 MW. A power plant may have one or more generators, and some generators may use more than one type of fuel.
Learn more:
Electric Power Annual, Table 4.1: Count of electric power industry power plants by sector, by predominant energy sources within plant (some power plants are double-counted by fuel type in Table 4.1), and Table 4.3: Existing capacity by energy source (includes number of generators by type of main fuel/energy source)
Downloadable databases with detailed data on individual generators and power plants
Other FAQs about Electricity
- How old are U.S. nuclear power plants, and when was the newest one built?
- How much coal, natural gas, or petroleum is used to generate a kilowatthour of electricity?
- How many smart meters are installed in the United States, and who has them?
- What is the outlook for home heating fuel prices this winter?
- How much does it cost to generate electricity with different types of power plants?
- Does EIA publish electric utility rate, tariff, and demand-charge data?
- Can customers choose their electricity supplier?
- Does EIA have data on each power plant in the United States?
- What types and amounts of energy are produced in each state?
- How much of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions are associated with electricity generation?
- How much of U.S. energy production and consumption comes from renewable energy sources?
- Does EIA publish energy consumption and price data for cities, counties, or by zip code?
- How many power plants are in the United States?
- Does EIA project energy production, consumption, or prices for individual states?
- How much electricity is used for lighting in the United States?
- What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source?
- How much does it cost to build different types of power plants in the United States?
- Does EIA publish data on peak or hourly electricity generation, demand, and prices?
- How much electricity is lost in electricity transmission and distribution in the United States?
- What is the efficiency of different types of power plants?
- Does EIA publish the location of electric power plants and transmission lines?
- How much carbon dioxide is produced per kilowatthour of U.S. electricity generation?
- What is the difference between electric generation capacity and electricity generation?
- How much electricity does a power plant generate?
- How much electricity is used for air conditioning in the United States?
- How many nuclear power plants are in the United States, and where are they located?
- How much electricity does an American home use?
- Does EIA have county-level energy production data?
- How is electricity used in U.S. homes?
- Does EIA publish electricity sales and price data by state and by utility?
- Does EIA publish data on costs for electricity transmission and distribution?
- How much of world energy production and consumption is from renewable energy?
- How much energy does the world consume by each energy end-use sector?
- Does EIA have information on unplanned outages of U.S. infrastructures?
- How many electric vehicles (EV) and EV charging stations are in the United States?