Where Nebraska Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, July 2025 – June 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 3.6% | 1,464 GWh |
| Coal | 46.5% | 19,153 GWh |
| Nuclear | 16.7% | 6,876 GWh |
| Wind | 28.0% | 11,510 GWh |
| Solar | 0.7% | 278 GWh |
| Hydro | 3.6% | 1,464 GWh |
| Other | 1.0% | 404 GWh |
41.1 TWh generated over the 12 months to June 2026. Shares are of net generation within Nebraska, 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. Nebraska generated 66 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 0.7% to 0.8%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 1.1% | 3.2% | +2.1 pts |
| Coal | 66.4% | 45.6% | −20.8 pts |
| Nuclear | 28.6% | 17.2% | −11.4 pts |
| Wind | 0.0% | 29.1% | +29.1 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 0.6% | +0.6 pts |
| Hydro | 3.7% | 2.9% | −0.8 pts |
| Other | 0.1% | 1.3% | +1.2 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
Nebraska's generation mix in context
Coal generated 46.5% of Nebraska's electricity in the trailing twelve months to May 2026, making it the largest source. Nuclear supplied 16.8%, while wind contributed 27.9%. Together, renewable sources accounted for 32.2% of generation, placing the state 21st among the 51 states and DC. Carbon-free generation from renewables and nuclear reached 49.0%, against a national carbon-free share of 42.6%.
Solar generated 0.7% of the state's electricity on a utility-scale basis, or 0.8% when rooftop solar is included, ranking 46th nationally. The mix has shifted substantially since 2001, when coal dominated at 66.4% and renewables supplied just 3.8%. Wind has grown from nothing to 29.1% in 2025, while coal fell to 45.6% the same year and nuclear declined to 17.2%. Renewables reached 32.8% in 2025.
Nationally, natural gas is the largest source at 40.8%, compared to coal's 46.5% share in Nebraska. Renewable generation stands at 24.9% nationwide, 7.3 percentage points below Nebraska's share. Among bordering states, five—South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming—generate higher renewable shares than Nebraska, while Missouri's 14.7% renewable share is lower.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Nebraska's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Nebraska's power comes from solar?
›Where does Nebraska get most of its electricity?
›Does Nebraska still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Nebraska 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.