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Last month, for the first time in the U.S., solar generated more electricity than coal, a reflection of both the rapid adoption of renewable power and the declining fortunes of America’s aging fleet of coal power plants.
Solar output reached an all-time high last month, supplying 12.8 percent of U.S. electricity, with coal supplying 12.2 percent, according to an analysis from energy think tank Ember. As a share of the power supply, solar typically reaches a high in May, when longer days spur greater generation, but mild weather keeps demand in check.
Coal output continued to slump last month, reaching a new record low, according to Ember. Its decline comes despite a push by the Trump administration to extend the lives of aging coal plants. Just this week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued an emergency order to keep a coal power plant in Orlando, Florida, online. The plant had been scheduled to be retired last year under a plan by the local public utility to shift to renewable energy.
While solar is gaining ground on coal nationally, it still trails far behind natural gas. In some states, however, that is beginning to change. A massive buildout of renewables in California has led to a marked decline in gas power in that state. The Energy Information Administration projects that California will see solar generation surpass gas generation for the first time this year.
Globally, renewable generation overtook coal last year, according to Ember, which finds that countries are increasingly turning to solar to meet new demand. As a share of global generation, coal has been dropping for more than a decade, while gas has been in decline for five years running, the think tank found.
While natural gas had, until recently, been favored as a means of new generation, the think tank said, “gas power is losing momentum as a source of global growth and may be approaching a structural peak.”
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