Where Mississippi Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, September 2025 – August 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 76.0% | 58,900 GWh |
| Coal | 4.2% | 3,252 GWh |
| Nuclear | 13.1% | 10,157 GWh |
| Wind | 0.7% | 539 GWh |
| Solar | 4.3% | 3,356 GWh |
| Hydro | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Other | 1.7% | 1,315 GWh |
77.5 TWh generated over the 12 months to August 2026. Shares are of net generation within Mississippi, 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. Mississippi generated 37 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 4.3% to 4.4%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 33.2% | 73.9% | +40.7 pts |
| Coal | 35.9% | 5.4% | −30.6 pts |
| Nuclear | 18.6% | 14.7% | −3.9 pts |
| Wind | 0.0% | 0.6% | +0.6 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 3.7% | +3.7 pts |
| Hydro | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Other | 12.3% | 1.7% | −10.6 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
Mississippi's generation mix in context
Natural gas supplied 76% of Mississippi's electricity generation in the twelve months since September 2025, nearly double the national share of 40.9%. Nuclear provided 13.1% and solar 4.3% on a utility-scale basis, or 4.4% when rooftop solar is included. Together, carbon-free sources accounted for 19.8% of generation, while renewables—wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and biomass—made up 6.7%, ranking 45th of the 50 states and DC.
The state's reliance on gas has grown sharply. In 2001, gas supplied 33.2% of generation; by 2025 it reached 73.9%, while coal fell from 35.9% to 5.4%. Wind appeared over this period, reaching 0.6% in 2025, and solar grew from nothing to 3.7%, lifting the renewable share from 2.7% in 2001 to 6.0% in 2025. Other sources, including geothermal and biomass, declined from 12.3% to 1.7%.
Among the four bordering states, three have higher renewable shares: Arkansas at 14.8%, Tennessee at 13%, and Alabama at 8.1%. Only Louisiana, at 5.2%, ranks lower than Mississippi. Nationally, the renewable share stands 18.7 percentage points higher than Mississippi's.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through August 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Mississippi's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Mississippi's power comes from solar?
›Where does Mississippi get most of its electricity?
›Does Mississippi still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Mississippi 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.