Where Ohio Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, July 2025 – June 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 56.4% | 86,713 GWh |
| Coal | 22.3% | 34,248 GWh |
| Nuclear | 11.7% | 17,993 GWh |
| Wind | 1.9% | 2,960 GWh |
| Solar | 5.9% | 9,071 GWh |
| Hydro | 0.2% | 366 GWh |
| Other | 1.6% | 2,457 GWh |
153.8 TWh generated over the 12 months to June 2026. Shares are of net generation within Ohio, 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. Ohio generated 667 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 5.9% to 6.3%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 0.6% | 54.7% | +54.1 pts |
| Coal | 87.3% | 24.3% | −63.0 pts |
| Nuclear | 10.9% | 11.6% | +0.8 pts |
| Wind | 0.0% | 2.0% | +2.0 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 5.4% | +5.4 pts |
| Hydro | 0.4% | 0.3% | −0.1 pts |
| Other | 0.8% | 1.7% | +0.9 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
| Where | Renewable | Carbon-free | Largest source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | 8.2% | 19.9% | Natural gas 56.4% |
| U.S. average | 25.2% | 42.9% | Natural gas 40.7% |
| Indiana | 17.8% | 17.8% | Coal |
| Michigan | 13.9% | 35.0% | Natural gas |
| Kentucky | 8.7% | 8.7% | Coal |
| West Virginia | 6.0% | 6.0% | Coal |
| Pennsylvania | 3.9% | 34.8% | Natural gas |
Ohio's generation mix in context
Natural gas supplied 56% of Ohio's electricity generation in the twelve months through May 2026, making it by far the largest source. Coal accounted for 22.6%, followed by nuclear at 11.8%. Solar made up 5.8% of generation from utility-scale installations, or 6.2% when including rooftop solar. Renewables together supplied 8.1% of the state's electricity, while carbon-free sources (renewables and nuclear combined) reached 19.9%. These shares mean Ohio's electricity came from fossil fuels 80% of the time.
Compared with the national average, Ohio generated far more electricity from gas and coal but significantly less from renewables. The state's renewable share of 8.1% ranked 43rd among the 51 states and DC, and its solar generation ranked 22nd. The gap with the national renewable share of 24.9% was substantial, putting Ohio 16.8 percentage points below the national figure. Of Ohio's five bordering states, three—Indiana, Michigan, and Kentucky—generated higher shares of renewable electricity, while West Virginia and Pennsylvania generated lower shares.
Since 2001, Ohio's generation mix has undergone a profound transformation. Coal collapsed from 87.3% in 2001 to 24.3% in 2025, a decline of 63 percentage points. Natural gas surged from nearly nothing to 54.7%, gaining 54.1 percentage points. Renewables grew from just 0.7% to 7.9%, a rise of 7.2 percentage points, driven largely by solar's emergence from zero to 5.4% and wind's growth to 2.0%. Nuclear held relatively steady at 11.6% in 2025.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Ohio's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Ohio's power comes from solar?
›Where does Ohio get most of its electricity?
›Does Ohio still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Ohio 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.