Where Idaho Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 26.4% | 5,768 GWh |
| Coal | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Wind | 14.0% | 3,050 GWh |
| Solar | 8.4% | 1,837 GWh |
| Hydro | 48.4% | 10,567 GWh |
| Other | 2.8% | 619 GWh |
21.8 TWh generated over the 12 months to August 2026. Shares are of net generation within Idaho, 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. Idaho generated 332 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 8.4% to 9.8%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 15.0% | 27.5% | +12.4 pts |
| Coal | 0.8% | 0.0% | −0.8 pts |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Wind | 0.0% | 14.9% | +14.9 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 7.8% | +7.8 pts |
| Hydro | 77.3% | 46.8% | −30.5 pts |
| Other | 6.9% | 3.0% | −3.9 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
Idaho's generation mix in context
Hydropower supplied 48.4% of Idaho's electricity generation in the twelve months from September 2025 through August 2026, making it by far the largest source. Renewables accounted for 73.4% of generation, ranking 4th among the 50 states and DC. When rooftop solar is included alongside utility-scale capacity, solar made up 9.8% of generation; utility-scale solar alone contributed 8.4%. Solar ranked 16th nationally. At 26.4%, gas supplied most of the remainder, while coal and nuclear generated nothing.
Idaho's renewable share ran well above the national figure of 25.4%, a difference of 48 percentage points. All five bordering states with lower renewable shares than Idaho's drew more gas or coal into their mix. Washington, the one neighbor with a higher renewable share at 78.4%, also relied on hydro as its largest source.
The mix has shifted substantially since 2001. Hydro fell from 77.3% to 46.8% in 2025, while wind rose from nothing to 14.9% and solar from nothing to 7.8%. Gas climbed from 15% in 2001 to 27.5% in 2025. Renewables declined from 83% in 2001 to 72.2% in 2025, a drop of 10.8 percentage points, though they remained far more dominant than the national average.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Idaho's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Idaho's power comes from solar?
›Where does Idaho get most of its electricity?
›Does Idaho still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Idaho 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 August 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.