In good news for both Americans and the planet, coal is set to be eclipsed in 2024.
From January through July of this year, wind and solar in the U.S. generated more net electricity than power from coal, according to recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
According to the EIA’s Monthly Energy Review for July 2024, electricity net generation from renewable energy outpaced coal for the first seven months of the year so far, a first for the U.S.
In 2023, renewables outpaced coal energy generation for the first five months of the year. But by summer, energy demand increased, especially considering last summer was the Northern Hemisphere’s hottest summer in 2,000 years. Because renewables were able to outpace energy generated by coal in summer 2024, even with increased demand in what may become the hottest year on record, renewable energy sources may end up producing more energy than coal for the entire year, Scientific American reported.
“I think it is an important milestone,” said Ric O’Connell, who leads GridLab, a clean electricity consulting firm. “I think you’re seeing a solar surge and a coal decline and hence the lines are crossing.”
EIA previously reported that renewable generation eclipsed coal in 2020 and 2022 and then repeated the feat in 2023. But those figures notably included other resources such as hydropower. Now wind and solar are posed to overtake coal on their own.
Coal may yet hold off wind and solar with a strong five months to close 2024. But renewables are likely to overtake the former king of the power sector sooner rather than later.
The last coal plant built in the continental United States came online in 2013. American coal capacity then declined 38 percent over the following decade.