US coal generation dipped in April, making up 27.8% of total US power generation during the month, down from 28.2% in March, the Energy Information Administration's Electric Power Monthly report showed Monday.
April coal burn totaled 81.8 TWh, down 8.8% from March but up 13.7% from the year-ago month. It was the lowest monthly total since May 2016.
Natural gas burn in April totaled 86.2 TWh, down 6.9% from March and down 13.6% from the year-ago month. The fuel made up 29.4% of US power generation in April, compared with 29.1% in March and 34.1% in the year-ago month.
Wind generation in April totaled 25.4 TWh, down 0.8% from its all-time peak in March but up 23.5% from the year-ago month. Wind's share of US generation in April totaled 8.6%, which was the highest share since the EIA began breaking out wind share in 2012.
Utility-scale solar generation posted in April posted its highest monthly total since the EIA began tracking utility-scale solar generation in 2013, reaching 4.8 TWh, up 7.6% from March and up 66.2% from the year-ago month.
Utility-scale solar generation made up 1.6% of US power generation in April, while utility-scale plus distributed solar generation made up 2.3% during the month.
Helped by wind and solar, the total amount of generation from renewables (including hydro) came to 65.9 TWh in April, down 1.8% from March, which was also a record amount.
Generation from renewables, including hydro, made up 22.4% of US power generation in April, which was the highest total since the EIA started tracking distributed solar generation in 2014.
Total US generation at utility scale facilities came to 293.7 TWh in April, down 7.6% from March but up 0.3% from the year-ago month. The April total was also down 0.8% compared with the five-year average for the month.
For the year, US power generation totals 1.24 million TWh, down 1.7% compared with the same period last year.
