Where Iowa Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 10.9% | 8,184 GWh |
| Coal | 27.6% | 20,777 GWh |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Wind | 57.7% | 43,455 GWh |
| Solar | 1.8% | 1,324 GWh |
| Hydro | 1.7% | 1,277 GWh |
| Other | 0.4% | 276 GWh |
75.3 TWh generated over the 12 months to August 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 608 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 supplied 57.7% of Iowa's electricity generation in the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026, making it by far the largest source. Coal accounted for 27.6%, with gas at 10.9% and the remainder split among hydro at 1.7%, solar at 1.8% (or 2.5% when rooftop solar is included), and other sources at 0.4%. Renewable generation reached 61.4% of the total, ranking Iowa 7th among the 50 states and DC. Carbon-free sources, which add nuclear to the renewables, made up the same 61.4% because Iowa generated no nuclear power. Both figures far exceeded the national renewable share of 25.4% and the national carbon-free share of 43%.
Iowa's generation mix has shifted dramatically since 2001. Wind rose from 1.2% in 2001 to 58.9% in 2025, while coal collapsed from 85.3% to 25.7% over the same span. Renewable generation as a whole grew from 3.5% to 62.4%, an increase of 58.9 percentage points. Nuclear declined from 9.5% to 0%, and gas grew from 1.5% to 11.7%. Solar emerged from nothing to reach 1.8% by 2025, and hydro fell slightly from 2.1% to 1.4%.
Among Iowa's six bordering states, only South Dakota exceeds its renewable share, at 81.8%. The other five—Minnesota at 35%, Nebraska at 32.2%, Illinois at 18.2%, Wisconsin at 14.8%, and Missouri at 15.5%—all fall well below Iowa's 61.4%. Wind is the largest source in both Iowa and South Dakota, and in Minnesota; coal leads in Nebraska and Missouri, while Illinois and Wisconsin rely primarily on nuclear and gas respectively.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 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 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.