Where Alaska Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, June 2025 – May 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 38.0% | 2,566 GWh |
| Coal | 11.0% | 740 GWh |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Wind | 1.4% | 97 GWh |
| Solar | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Hydro | 31.0% | 2,093 GWh |
| Other | 18.5% | 1,248 GWh |
6.7 TWh generated over the 12 months to May 2026. Shares are of net generation within Alaska, which is not the same as what the state consumes — power crosses state lines.
Counting rooftop solar
EIA reports small-scale solar — mostly rooftop panels on homes and businesses — separately, and leaves it out of the state generation total that the mix above is a share of. Alaska generated 23 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 0.0% to 0.3%.
How the mix has shifted since 2016
| Source | 2016 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 48.0% | 38.1% | −9.8 pts |
| Coal | 9.4% | 12.3% | +2.9 pts |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Wind | 2.7% | 1.7% | −0.9 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Hydro | 26.2% | 28.7% | +2.5 pts |
| Other | 13.8% | 19.2% | +5.4 pts |
Compared with the U.S.
| Where | Renewable | Carbon-free | Largest source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 33.1% | 33.1% | Natural gas 38.0% |
| U.S. average | 24.9% | 42.6% | Natural gas 40.8% |
Alaska's generation mix in context
Natural gas generated 38% of Alaska's electricity from June 2025 to May 2026, making it the largest source. Hydropower supplied 31%, while coal contributed 11%. The renewable share reached 33.1%, putting the state 20th among the 51 states and DC with generation data. Carbon-free generation, which includes renewables and nuclear, also totaled 33.1%. Solar generation was negligible: utility-scale solar accounted for 0%, though when small-scale rooftop solar is included the figure rises to 0.3%. The state ranked 49th for solar among the 51 jurisdictions.
Over the ten years from 2016 to 2025, Alaska's generation mix shifted notably. Natural gas fell from 48% in 2016 to 38.1% in 2025, a decline of 9.9 percentage points. Hydropower rose from 26.2% to 28.7%, gaining 2.5 percentage points. Wind dropped from 2.7% to 1.7%. The renewable share grew from 29.5% in 2016 to 31.1% in 2025, an increase of 1.6 percentage points, while the "other" category, which includes geothermal, biomass, petroleum, and other gases, expanded from 13.8% to 19.2%.
Compared with the nation, Alaska's renewable share of 33.1% exceeds the national figure of 24.9% by 8.2 percentage points. Natural gas supplied 2.8 percentage points less of Alaska's generation than the national average, while coal's share was 4.8 percentage points below the national level. The nation drew 17.7% of its electricity from nuclear power, a source absent from Alaska's generation during this period.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Alaska's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Alaska's power comes from solar?
›Where does Alaska get most of its electricity?
›Does Alaska still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Alaska getting greener?
How this is measured
Figures are net generation reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all sectors — utilities, independent power producers, and industrial and commercial plants that generate their own power. Shares are of the 12 months to May 2026, rather than a single month, because generation is strongly seasonal: solar peaks in summer and hydro with the spring melt, so one month says more about the weather than about the grid.
“Other” is the reported total minus the six named sources, so the shares add to exactly 100%. It holds geothermal, biomass, petroleum, other gases, and pumped storage — the last of which consumes more electricity than it returns, and so can be negative. Geothermal and biomass are renewable, which is why the renewable share above is slightly larger than wind, solar and hydro added together.
This is generation, not consumption. Electricity crosses state lines freely, so a state can generate more than it uses or rely on imports for a large part of its supply; neither shows up here.