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Where Kentucky Gets Its Electricity

Name: Kentucky Electricity Generation by Fuel Source
Creator: U.S. Energy Information Administration
License: https://www.eia.gov/about/copyrights_reuse.php

Net generation by source · 12-month average, June 2025 – May 2026.

Renewable

8.6%

41st highest of 51

Carbon-free

8.6%

Renewables plus nuclear

Largest source

Coal

64.3%

Generation mix

27%

64%

Kentucky electricity generation by source, June 2025 – May 2026
Source	Share	Generation
Natural gas	26.8%	19,601 GWh
Coal	64.3%	46,972 GWh
Nuclear	0.0%	0 GWh
Wind	0.0%	0 GWh
Solar	2.9%	2,106 GWh
Hydro	5.2%	3,816 GWh
Other	0.7%	515 GWh

73 TWh generated over the 12 months to May 2026. Shares are of net generation within Kentucky, which is not the same as what the state consumes — power crosses state lines.

Counting rooftop solar

Utility-scale solar

2.9%

Including rooftop

3.1%

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. Kentucky generated 189 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 2.9% to 3.1%.

How the mix has shifted since 2016

Share of generation by source in 2016 and 2025
Source	2016	2025	Change
Natural gas	10.3%	25.9%	+15.6 pts
Coal	83.2%	66.0%	−17.2 pts
Nuclear	0.0%	0.0%	—
Wind	0.0%	0.0%	—
Solar	0.0%	2.1%	+2.1 pts
Hydro	4.3%	5.3%	+0.9 pts
Other	2.2%	0.7%	−1.5 pts

Compared with the U.S. and nearby states

Where	Renewable	Carbon-free	Largest source
Kentucky	8.6%	8.6%	Coal 64.3%
U.S. average	24.9%	42.6%	Natural gas 40.8%
Illinois	17.4%	67.1%	Nuclear
Indiana	17.3%	17.3%	Coal
Missouri	14.7%	27.1%	Coal
Virginia	13.7%	40.4%	Natural gas
Tennessee	12.5%	57.8%	Nuclear
Ohio	8.1%	19.9%	Natural gas
West Virginia	5.9%	5.9%	Coal

Kentucky's generation mix in context

Coal supplied 64.3% of Kentucky's electricity generation since June 2025, by far the state's largest source. Natural gas accounted for 26.8%, with hydro providing 5.2%. Solar contributed 2.9% on a utility-scale basis, or 3.1% when rooftop solar is included. Renewable generation as a whole reached 8.6% of the state's total, ranking 41st among the 51 states and DC with generation data. Carbon-free generation, which adds nuclear to renewables, also stood at 8.6%, since Kentucky generated no nuclear power.

The composition of Kentucky's generation has shifted notably over the past decade. Coal's share fell from 83.2% in 2016 to 66% in 2025, a decline of 17.2 percentage points, while natural gas nearly tripled, rising from 10.3% to 25.9%. Renewable generation grew from 4.9% in 2016 to 8% in 2025, driven largely by solar, which emerged from zero to 2.1% by 2025. Hydro's contribution edged up by 1 percentage point, while other sources shrank by 1.5 percentage points.

Nationally, natural gas leads at 40.8% and renewables account for 24.9% of generation—both markedly higher than Kentucky's 26.8% and 8.6%. Kentucky's coal reliance exceeds the national share by 48.5 percentage points. Among the seven bordering states, five have higher renewable shares: Illinois at 17.4%, Indiana at 17.3%, Missouri at 14.7%, Virginia at 13.7%, and Tennessee at 12.5%. Only Ohio at 8.1% and West Virginia at 5.9% fall below Kentucky, with Ohio marginally lower and West Virginia significantly lower.

Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.

Frequently asked questions

›What percentage of Kentucky's electricity comes from renewable energy?

8.6% of the electricity generated in Kentucky comes from renewable sources — wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass — over the 12 months to May 2026. That compares with 24.9% nationally. Counting nuclear as well, 8.6% of Kentucky's generation is carbon-free.

›What percentage of Kentucky's power comes from solar?

Utility-scale solar farms supply 2.9% of Kentucky's electricity generation. Adding small-scale rooftop solar, which EIA reports separately and leaves out of the state total, takes it to 3.1%. Nationally, utility-scale solar is 7.2%.

›Where does Kentucky get most of its electricity?

Coal is the largest single source of electricity generated in Kentucky, at 64.3% of the total. The rest breaks down as natural gas 26.8%, solar 2.9%, hydro 5.2%, other 0.7%.

›Does Kentucky still burn coal for electricity?

Yes. Coal supplies 64.3% of Kentucky's electricity generation, compared with 15.8% nationally. In 2016 it was 83.2%, so the share has fallen since.

›Is Kentucky getting greener?

Renewables have gone from 4.9% of Kentucky's generation in 2016 to 8.0% in 2025, a rise of 3.0 percentage points. Over the same decade coal went from 83.2% to 66.0% and natural gas from 10.3% to 25.9%.

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.