Where Louisiana Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, June 2025 – May 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 70.9% | 75,312 GWh |
| Coal | 4.8% | 5,113 GWh |
| Nuclear | 16.8% | 17,802 GWh |
| Wind | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Solar | 2.4% | 2,598 GWh |
| Hydro | 0.8% | 806 GWh |
| Other | 4.3% | 4,620 GWh |
106.3 TWh generated over the 12 months to May 2026. Shares are of net generation within Louisiana, 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. Louisiana generated 395 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 2.4% to 2.8%.
How the mix has shifted since 2016
| Source | 2016 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 62.0% | 72.1% | +10.2 pts |
| Coal | 11.2% | 5.4% | −5.8 pts |
| Nuclear | 16.0% | 14.9% | −1.1 pts |
| Wind | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Solar | 0.0% | 2.3% | +2.3 pts |
| Hydro | 1.0% | 0.8% | −0.2 pts |
| Other | 9.8% | 4.4% | −5.4 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
| Where | Renewable | Carbon-free | Largest source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 5.1% | 21.9% | Natural gas 70.9% |
| U.S. average | 24.9% | 42.6% | Natural gas 40.8% |
| Texas | 33.7% | 40.5% | Natural gas |
| Arkansas | 13.8% | 34.6% | Natural gas |
| Mississippi | 6.6% | 19.5% | Natural gas |
Louisiana's generation mix in context
Natural gas supplied 70.9% of Louisiana's electricity generation in the twelve months since June 2025, making it by far the largest source. Nuclear power provided 16.8%, coal 4.8%, and renewables accounted for 5.1%. Solar generation totaled 2.4% on a utility-scale basis, or 2.8% when including rooftop solar.
Louisiana's renewable share ranked 47th among 51 states and DC, and its solar generation ranked 35th. Both figures fell well short of the national renewable share of 24.9%, which exceeded Louisiana by 19.8 percentage points. Natural gas supplied 30.1 percentage points more of Louisiana's generation than the national average, while coal fell 11 percentage points below it. All three neighbouring states with generation data—Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi—generated higher shares of renewable electricity than Louisiana.
Over the decade from 2016 to 2025, Louisiana's generation mix shifted toward gas and away from coal. Gas grew from 62% in 2016 to 72.1% in 2025, a gain of 10.1 percentage points. Coal fell from 11.2% to 5.4%, and nuclear declined slightly from 16% to 14.9%. Solar emerged as a source, reaching 2.3% in 2025 after none in 2016, while the renewable share overall grew from 3.7% to 5.1%.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Louisiana's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Louisiana's power comes from solar?
›Where does Louisiana get most of its electricity?
›Does Louisiana still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Louisiana 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.