EIA: U.S. Sets New Record for Net Power Generation in 2025

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Written by Paul Wiseman for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

Data centers accounted for much of the demand increase that led to generation growth, but all three sectors--commercial, industrial and residential--grew over 2024 levels.

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Powering Up

A total of 4.43 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity. That's how much power U.S. providers generated in 2025, which is 2.8% higher than in 2024, and a new record, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The old record had stood for exactly one year, set in 2024.

Net generation is based on electricity demand, and does not indicate generation capacity. The EIA said much of the demand growth came from the usual suspects: the commercial sector (including data centers) and industry (including manufacturing).

But all three power demand sectors, including residential, increased in the category known as "retail sales to ultimate consumers," a key indicator of demand, as follows: Residential (up 10%), commercial (up 4%) and industrial (up 1%). To clarify, because industrial demand is much greater than residential, industrial's 1% increase amounted to an addition of more kilowatt hours (kWh) than did the 10% jump for residential.

Recent growth, pushed significantly by data centers, contrasts with about two decades of relatively flat generation levels, from 2000 to the early 2020s.

Power Supply By Source

In its February 2026 Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO) the EIA broke out the percentages of total demand supplied in 2025 by the major generation sources.

The expectation for 2026 distribution is almost identical, except that coal drops to 16% and solar rises one to 18%. The EIA sees solar as the source of most new grid-scale capacity coming online for 2026. For more information, see February 27, 2026, article - EIA Sees U.S. Hitting Record Grid Capacity Additions in 2026, Adding 86 GW.

By the Numbers

• 4.43 terawatt hours (TWh): Electricity generated by U.S. grid providers in 2025, an all-time record
• 2.8%: Percentage of increase
• 40%: Amount generated by natural gas, the top source of power

Among the largest builders of solar and wind projects is RWE Americas, which announced it installed 2 gigawatts across 14 new projects in 2025. Of those, seven were in Texas, two in Illinois and one each in Kentucky, Louisiana, Arizona, California, and New York.

Day-Ahead Wholesale Prices Rose

Demand rose in 2025 even as electricity prices also ticked up. In a February 2 report, the EIA said higher natural gas costs to electric generators drove up wholesale day-ahead electricity prices at most major Lower 48 hubs.

The biggest power price increase was in ISO-NE, New England's Independent System Operator, with an average price of $29 per megawatt-hour (MWh).

It wasn't all bad news, however, as the upper Northwest's Mid-Columbia region saw the largest average decrease, down $14/MWh.

As for the natural gas prices themselves, Louisiana's Henry Hub prices were up by 56% over 2024 numbers, averaging $3.52 million per million British thermal units (MMBtu). Those 2024 prices were at inflation-adjusted record lows, so there was plenty of room to grow in 2025.

It was tough in the Northeast, however, as prices doubled in 2025 compared to 2024 at Algonquin City Gate in Massachusetts and at Transco Zone 6 NY in New York.

In explaining these cost figures, the EIA said, "The wholesale price of electricity on the electric power grid reflects the day-ahead and real-time cost for supplying electricity, which can be driven by fluctuations in demand and fuel costs. Most retail customers pay prices based on the seasonal average cost of providing electricity and do not experience these daily price fluctuations. Price changes for natural gas have an outsized influence on wholesale electricity prices because natural gas prices set the marginal price of electricity during most hours in most regional markets."

Winter Outlook

In the Northern Hemisphere, winter straddles the change of the year, so the EIA breaks out the winter of 2025-26 separately. For this period it expected "electricity generation to total 1,072 billion kilowatt hours (BKWh) in the winter months of December, January, and February, slightly exceeding electricity generation of 1,063 BKWh in the same period of 2024‒2025."

Predictions for 2026

The EIA expects the biggest demand and generation growth to be concentrated in areas managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the PJM interconnection--because these are also the heart of most data-center additions.

Key Takeaways

• Data-center demand led to most of the growth, but all three sectors--commercial, industrial, and residential--grew in 2025.
• The year 2024 had set the previous generation record, and the EIA expects more growth in 2026.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 Trillion (USD).