Where Iowa Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, July 2025 – June 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 11.3% | 8,487 GWh |
| Coal | 27.0% | 20,327 GWh |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Wind | 57.8% | 43,581 GWh |
| Solar | 1.8% | 1,325 GWh |
| Hydro | 1.8% | 1,345 GWh |
| Other | 0.4% | 277 GWh |
75.3 TWh generated over the 12 months to June 2026. Shares are of net generation within Iowa, 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. Iowa generated 593 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 1.8% to 2.5%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 1.5% | 11.7% | +10.2 pts |
| Coal | 85.3% | 25.7% | −59.5 pts |
| Nuclear | 9.5% | 0.0% | −9.5 pts |
| Wind | 1.2% | 58.9% | +57.7 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 1.8% | +1.8 pts |
| Hydro | 2.1% | 1.4% | −0.7 pts |
| Other | 0.5% | 0.5% | −0.1 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
Iowa's generation mix in context
Wind supplies 57.8% of Iowa's electricity generation, making it by far the dominant source. The renewable share is 61.5%, and the carbon-free share matches it, both well above the national figures of 24.9% and 42.6% respectively. Coal ranks second at 26.9%, followed by natural gas at 11.4%. Solar generation totals 1.8% when measured as utility-scale capacity, or 2.5% when including rooftop solar. Hydro contributes 1.8%, with other sources accounting for the remaining 0.4%.
The state's electricity mix has shifted dramatically since 2001. Wind generation rose from 1.2% in 2001 to 58.9% in 2025, a gain of 57.7 percentage points. Coal fell from 85.3% to 25.7%, a loss of 59.6 percentage points. Gas increased from 1.5% to 11.7%. Nuclear, which supplied 9.5% in 2001, has not generated electricity in the state since then. Renewables overall grew from 3.5% in 2001 to 62.4% in 2025.
Among the 51 states and DC with generation data, Iowa ranks seventh for the renewable share and 39th for solar. Of the six neighbouring states, South Dakota has a higher renewable share at 81.7%, while Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri all have lower shares, ranging from 14.7% to 33.9%. The nearest competitor among neighbours is Minnesota at 33.9%, more than 27 percentage points below Iowa.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Iowa's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Iowa's power comes from solar?
›Where does Iowa get most of its electricity?
›Does Iowa still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Iowa 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 June 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.