Where New Mexico Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, June 2025 – May 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 25.2% | 10,758 GWh |
| Coal | 21.9% | 9,355 GWh |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Wind | 36.3% | 15,511 GWh |
| Solar | 16.2% | 6,933 GWh |
| Hydro | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Other | 0.4% | 173 GWh |
42.7 TWh generated over the 12 months to May 2026. Shares are of net generation within New Mexico, 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. New Mexico generated 850 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 16.2% to 17.9%.
How the mix has shifted since 2016
| Source | 2016 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 30.3% | 26.8% | −3.4 pts |
| Coal | 55.8% | 20.9% | −34.9 pts |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Wind | 11.0% | 36.3% | +25.3 pts |
| Solar | 2.3% | 15.6% | +13.3 pts |
| Hydro | 0.4% | 0.0% | −0.4 pts |
| Other | 0.3% | 0.4% | +0.2 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
New Mexico's generation mix in context
Wind supplies 36.3% of New Mexico's electricity generation, the largest source by a large margin. Solar ranks second at 16.2% when counted as utility-scale alone, or 17.9% when rooftop solar is included. Gas supplies 25.2% and coal 21.9%, with a small remainder of 0.4% from other sources. Renewable energy makes up 52.7% of the state's generation mix, a figure that ranks 11th among the 51 states and DC with generation data. Carbon-free sources account for the same 52.7%, since New Mexico generates no nuclear power.
Over the past decade, the mix has shifted dramatically. The renewable share grew from 13.8% in 2016 to 52.1% in 2025, driven by wind's expansion from 11.0% to 36.3% and solar's rise from 2.3% to 15.6%. Coal fell steeply from 55.8% to 20.9%, while gas declined more modestly from 30.3% to 26.8%. Nationally, renewables account for just 24.9% of generation, making New Mexico's 52.7% renewable share 27.8 percentage points higher. All five bordering states—Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, Utah, and Arizona—generate lower shares of renewable electricity than New Mexico. Solar ranks fifth nationwide by state share, while wind is far more dominant in New Mexico at 36.3% compared with the national 10.6%.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of New Mexico's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of New Mexico's power comes from solar?
›Where does New Mexico get most of its electricity?
›Does New Mexico still burn coal for electricity?
›Is New Mexico 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.