Where Ohio Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, June 2025 – May 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 56.0% | 85,668 GWh |
| Coal | 22.6% | 34,533 GWh |
| Nuclear | 11.8% | 18,038 GWh |
| Wind | 1.9% | 2,914 GWh |
| Solar | 5.8% | 8,810 GWh |
| Hydro | 0.2% | 373 GWh |
| Other | 1.7% | 2,561 GWh |
152.9 TWh generated over the 12 months to May 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 654 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 5.8% to 6.2%.
How the mix has shifted since 2016
| Source | 2016 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 24.3% | 54.7% | +30.4 pts |
| Coal | 57.8% | 24.3% | −33.5 pts |
| Nuclear | 14.1% | 11.6% | −2.5 pts |
| Wind | 1.0% | 2.0% | +1.0 pts |
| Solar | 0.1% | 5.4% | +5.3 pts |
| Hydro | 0.4% | 0.3% | −0.1 pts |
| Other | 2.2% | 1.7% | −0.5 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
| Where | Renewable | Carbon-free | Largest source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | 8.1% | 19.9% | Natural gas 56.0% |
| U.S. average | 24.9% | 42.6% | Natural gas 40.8% |
| Indiana | 17.3% | 17.3% | Coal |
| Michigan | 13.5% | 34.6% | Natural gas |
| Kentucky | 8.6% | 8.6% | Coal |
| West Virginia | 5.9% | 5.9% | Coal |
| Pennsylvania | 3.8% | 34.5% | Natural gas |
Ohio's generation mix in context
Natural gas generated 56% of Ohio's electricity since June 2025, making it by far the largest source. Coal supplied 22.6%, nuclear 11.8%, and renewables made up 8.1% of the total. The solar share was 5.8% counting utility-scale generation alone, or 6.2% when including rooftop solar. Wind contributed 1.9%, while hydro and other sources together accounted for the remaining 1.9%.
Carbon-free generation reached 19.9% across the state, placing Ohio 43rd among the 51 states and DC in renewable share. In the national mix, natural gas also led at 40.8%, but renewables supplied 24.9% overall and carbon-free sources reached 42.6%—substantially higher than Ohio's figures. Ohio generated 15.2 percentage points more gas than the nation and 6.8 percentage points more coal. Among neighbouring states, three had higher renewable shares: Indiana at 17.3%, Michigan at 13.5%, and Kentucky at 8.6%. Two bordered states had lower shares: West Virginia at 5.9% and Pennsylvania at 3.8%.
Over the past decade, Ohio's generation mix shifted dramatically. Coal fell from 57.8% in 2016 to 24.3% in 2025, while natural gas surged from 24.3% to 54.7%. Renewable generation grew from 2.1% to 7.9%, driven almost entirely by solar, which rose from 0.1% to 5.4%. Wind inched up from 1% to 2%, while nuclear declined slightly from 14.1% to 11.6%, and other sources fell from 2.2% to 1.7%.
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 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.