Where Hawaii Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, June 2025 – May 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Coal | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Wind | 5.8% | 545 GWh |
| Solar | 10.1% | 952 GWh |
| Hydro | 0.3% | 24 GWh |
| Other | 83.9% | 7,946 GWh |
9.5 TWh generated over the 12 months to May 2026. Shares are of net generation within Hawaii, 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. Hawaii generated 1,691 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 10.1% to 23.7%.
How the mix has shifted since 2016
| Source | 2016 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Coal | 15.1% | 0.0% | −15.1 pts |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Wind | 6.4% | 6.1% | −0.3 pts |
| Solar | 0.9% | 10.3% | +9.4 pts |
| Hydro | 0.9% | 0.3% | −0.7 pts |
| Other | 76.7% | 83.3% | +6.6 pts |
Compared with the U.S.
| Where | Renewable | Carbon-free | Largest source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 20.5% | 20.5% | Other 83.9% |
| U.S. average | 24.9% | 42.6% | Natural gas 40.8% |
Hawaii's generation mix in context
Other sources supplied 83.9% of Hawaii's electricity generation in the trailing twelve months to May 2026. This category, which holds geothermal, biomass, petroleum, other gases and pumped storage, dominates the state's generation mix. Renewable sources—wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass combined—accounted for 20.5% of generation, placing the state 26th among the 51 states and DC with generation data. Solar, counting utility-scale installations alone, supplied 10.1% and ranks 12th nationally; when rooftop solar is included in the calculation, the solar share rises to 23.7%.
Over the decade from 2016 to 2025, renewable generation more than expanded, rising 6.9 percentage points from 14.5% in 2016 to 21.4% in 2025. Solar was the primary driver of this growth, climbing 9.4 percentage points over the period. Coal, which supplied 15.1% of generation in 2016, fell to 0% by 2025. Wind remained relatively stable, declining slightly from 6.4% to 6.1%, while hydroelectric generation shrank from 0.9% to 0.3%.
Hawaii's renewable share trails the national average of 24.9% by 4.4 percentage points, and its carbon-free share of 20.5% is well below the nation's 42.6%. Unlike the national mix, where natural gas dominates at 40.8%, Hawaii generated no gas-fired electricity in the trailing twelve-month period. The state's fossil fuel share of 75.7% exceeds the national fossil share, reflecting the outsized role of petroleum and other sources in its generation portfolio.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Hawaii's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Hawaii's power comes from solar?
›Where does Hawaii get most of its electricity?
›Does Hawaii still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Hawaii 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.