US electricity generation rises, led by solar

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From pv magazine USA

The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released its September Electric Power Monthly, which includes data through July 2024.

Solar generation has increased by nearly 26% year over year, with a 1% rise in electricity consumption in July 2024 compared to July 2023 and a 4.5% increase in electricity generation from January to July 2024, while residential electricity prices have climbed 4.6%.

Nationally, solar has seen a steady increase, now accounting for 6.22% of all electricity generated over the past 12 months, as shown in PV Intel’s national solar data summary. This represents a 20% increase from the previous year when solar constituted 5.16% of all electricity.

The EIA reports small-scale solar generation grew from 7.7 TWh in July 2023 to 8.8 TWh in July 2024, a 13.9% increase. Utility-scale solar grew 23.3%, from 26.2 TWh to 32.3 TWh. While solid, these gains are lower than year-to-date increases of 16.8% for small-scale and 29.7% for utility-scale solar, contributing to an overall 25.8% rise in solar output.

Electricity generation in July rose 1% compared to last year, while year-to-date generation increased 4.5%, adding 109 TWh. This growth outpaced solar’s increase of 36 TWh.

Typically, June and July are the peak months for solar electricity in absolute terms. However, as a percentage, solar generation peaked in May 2024 at 8.53% of total generation. The same month also saw the highest percentage of emission-free electricity generation for the year at 47.94%.

 

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