Where Utah Gets Its Electricity
Net generation by source · 12-month average, July 2025 – June 2026.
Generation mix
| Source | Share | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 36.8% | 13,846 GWh |
| Coal | 39.1% | 14,728 GWh |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0 GWh |
| Wind | 2.0% | 747 GWh |
| Solar | 17.8% | 6,685 GWh |
| Hydro | 2.3% | 849 GWh |
| Other | 2.1% | 774 GWh |
37.6 TWh generated over the 12 months to June 2026. Shares are of net generation within Utah, 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. Utah generated 1,142 GWh that way. Counting it on both sides of the ratio takes solar from 17.8% to 20.2%.
How the mix has shifted since 2001
| Source | 2001 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | 4.0% | 30.8% | +26.7 pts |
| Coal | 93.9% | 48.1% | −45.8 pts |
| Nuclear | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| Wind | 0.0% | 2.1% | +2.1 pts |
| Solar | 0.0% | 14.9% | +14.9 pts |
| Hydro | 1.4% | 1.8% | +0.3 pts |
| Other | 0.6% | 2.4% | +1.8 pts |
Compared with the U.S. and nearby states
Utah's generation mix in context
Coal is the largest source of electricity generation in Utah, supplying 40.4% of the total since June 2025. Natural gas accounts for 36.3%, while solar contributes 17.1% from utility-scale plants alone, or 19.5% when rooftop solar is included. Renewables as a whole make up 22.6% of generation, placing Utah 23rd among the 51 states and DC with generation data. Solar ranks fourth highest among all states.
The generation mix has shifted substantially since 2001. Coal's share has fallen from 93.9% to 48.1% in 2025, while gas has grown from 4% to 30.8%. Solar has emerged as a significant source, rising from nothing to 14.9% in 2025, and wind has grown to 2.1%. These changes have lifted the renewable share from 1.9% in 2001 to 20.2% in 2025.
Utah's renewable share of 22.6% falls below the national average of 24.9%, and below all five of its bordering states that generate more renewably: Idaho at 74.3%, New Mexico at 52.7%, Colorado at 46.5%, Nevada at 43.7%, and Wyoming at 34.2%. Only Arizona, at 21.8%, generates a lower share of renewables than Utah. The state generates far more coal than the nation, which produced 15.8%, and proportionally less natural gas than the national 40.8%.
Written from the EIA figures on this page, covering data through May 2026.
Frequently asked questions
›What percentage of Utah's electricity comes from renewable energy?
›What percentage of Utah's power comes from solar?
›Where does Utah get most of its electricity?
›Does Utah still burn coal for electricity?
›Is Utah 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.