Power systems are expanding while their fuel mix changes. In 2024, global electricity demand rose 4.3%, and renewables and nuclear supplied more than 80% of the increase in generation; yet about 730 million people still lacked electricity access.
Key Power Industry Statistics
The most broadly useful power industry figures include:
- In 2024, global electricity demand increased 4.3% worldwide compared with 2023.
- In 2024, global electricity consumption rose by 1,080 TWh worldwide.
- From 2010 through 2023, global electricity demand grew an average 2.7% per year.
- In 2024, China’s electricity consumption increased by more than 550 TWh, or about 7%.
- In 2024, about 730 million people lacked electricity access worldwide.
- In 2024, global electricity generation grew by more than 1,200 TWh, or about 4%.
- In 2024, renewables and nuclear supplied more than 80% of the increase in global generation.
- In 2024, coal supplied 35% of global electricity generation.
- In 2024, renewables and nuclear supplied two-fifths of global generation.
- In 2025, U.S. end-use electricity consumption reached about 4.20 trillion kWh.
- In 2025, U.S. utility-scale generating capacity totaled 1,280,799 MW at year-end.
- In 2025, fossil fuels supplied about 58% of U.S. utility-scale generation.
- In 2025, the average U.S. residential electricity price was 17.30 cents per kWh.
- In 2024, global energy investment was set to exceed USD 3 trillion, including USD 2 trillion for clean energy.
- In 2024, global power-grid investment was expected to reach USD 400 billion.
- From 2025 through 2050, U.S. electricity demand is projected to grow about 2% per year in EIA’s Counterfactual Baseline case.
- By 2050, zero-carbon technologies are projected to supply 54% to 67% of global electricity demand across EIA cases.
- From 2022 through 2050, global generating-capacity additions are projected at 4,600 GW to 9,200 GW across EIA cases.
Contents
- Global electricity demand, access, and end-use trends
- Global generation mix and power industry technology shifts
- U.S. power industry scale, capacity, and sales
- Electricity prices and power-sector investment
- Grid structure, distributed generation, and reliability
- Power industry emissions and the 2025–2050 outlook
Global Electricity Demand, Access, and End-Use Trends
The International Energy Agency’s Electricity – Global Energy Review 2025 reports that global electricity demand increased 4.3% in 2024, after 2.5% growth in 2023. Total final electricity consumption rose by 1,080 TWh, nearly twice the average annual increase of the previous decade.
From 2010 through 2023, global electricity demand grew by an average 2.7% per year, about twice the growth rate of total energy demand. China accounted for more than 550 TWh of additional consumption in 2024, equivalent to about 7% growth.
| Global end-use area | 2024 result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Buildings | More than 600 TWh increase; 5% growth | Nearly 60% of total global consumption growth |
| Industry | Nearly 4% growth | Nearly 40% of total global demand growth |
| Transport | More than 8% growth | Global transport electricity consumption |
Source: Electricity – Global Energy Review 2025.
About 730 million people worldwide lacked access to electricity in 2024, only 11 million fewer than in 2023. The IEA describes this as an annual estimate compiled from national, utility, and off-grid sources rather than a direct household census.
Developing Asia reached an estimated 98% electricity-access rate in 2024. A separate 2025 IEA assessment estimated that about 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still lacked reliable electricity access; reliable access is narrower than simply having a connection, and the figure is an assessment rather than a census.
Sources: Access to electricity stagnates, leaving globally 730 million in the dark and Executive summary – Electricity 2025.
Global Generation Mix and Power Industry Technology Shifts
Global electricity generation grew by more than 1,200 TWh, or about 4%, in 2024. Renewables and nuclear supplied more than 80% of that increase, with renewables alone providing almost three-quarters.
The technology-specific changes show where the expansion came from:
- Global solar-PV generation increased by about 480 TWh in 2024.
- Global wind generation increased by about 180 TWh in 2024.
- Global hydropower generation increased by 190 TWh in 2024.
- Global nuclear-power output increased by nearly 4% in 2024.
- Fossil-fuel generation increased by just over 1% in 2024 and supplied less than one-fifth of global generation growth.
Coal nevertheless remained the largest single source, supplying 35% of global electricity generation in 2024. Renewables and nuclear together supplied two-fifths of total global generation.
Source: Electricity – Global Energy Review 2025.
U.S. Power Industry Scale, Capacity, and Sales
U.S. end-use electricity consumption reached about 4.20 trillion kWh in 2025, the highest recorded level and 14 times the 1950 level. EIA separates end-use consumption and retail sales, so these measures should not be treated as identical.
| U.S. customer group | 2025 retail sales | Share of retail sales |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | 1.51 trillion kWh | 37.3% |
| Commercial | 1.49 trillion kWh | 36.8% |
| Industrial | 1.04 trillion kWh | 25.7% |
| Transportation | About 0.01 trillion kWh | 0.2% |
Direct-use electricity by U.S. industrial and commercial facilities was estimated at about 3.3% of total end-use electricity consumption in 2025. Utility-scale generators produced about 4,429 billion kWh of net electricity, while small-scale solar PV systems generated an estimated 93.15 billion kWh.
At the end of 2025, U.S. utility-scale electricity-generation capacity totaled 1,280,799 MW. Natural-gas units represented 40.0% of that capacity, while fossil fuels supplied about 58% of utility-scale generation.
Sources: Use of electricity and Electricity generation, capacity, and sales in the United States.
Electricity Prices and Power-Sector Investment
The 2025 U.S. average retail electricity price was 13.63 cents per kWh. Residential customers paid an average 17.30 cents per kWh, while industrial customers paid 8.62 cents per kWh.
| U.S. 2025 retail price measure | Price |
|---|---|
| All utility customers | 13.63 cents/kWh |
| Residential customers | 17.30 cents/kWh |
| Industrial customers | 8.62 cents/kWh |
| Highest state endpoint: Hawaii | 35.72 cents/kWh |
| Lowest state endpoint: North Dakota | 8.20 cents/kWh |
These EIA figures are identified as preliminary in the February 2026 Electric Power Monthly release. The state range compares the reported Hawaii and North Dakota endpoints, not a national average.
Global energy investment was estimated to exceed USD 3 trillion in 2024, with USD 2 trillion directed to clean-energy technologies and infrastructure. The IEA projected more than USD 500 billion for global solar-PV power-sector investment and more than USD 50 billion for battery storage in 2024.
Power-grid investment was expected to reach USD 400 billion globally in 2024, compared with about USD 300 billion per year since 2015. Global nuclear investment was projected at USD 80 billion in 2024, nearly twice its 2018 level.
Sources: Prices and factors affecting prices and Overview and key findings – World Energy Investment 2024.
Grid Structure, Distributed Generation, and Reliability
EIA defines a U.S. utility-scale power plant as a facility with at least 1 MW of electric-generation capacity. Small-scale generators are systems below 1 MW, usually located at or near the point of consumption.
The Lower 48 U.S. grid has three main interconnections: Eastern, Western, and ERCOT. The wider system includes two broad line-voltage tiers, thousands of miles of high-voltage lines, millions of miles of low-voltage lines, thousands of power plants, and hundreds of millions of customers.
Wind and solar together rose from 4% of U.S. utility-scale generating capacity in 2010 to 17% in the latest EIA comparison. Capacity and generation are different measures: EIA describes capacity factors of 70% or higher as generally indicating base-load operation, while peaking units tend to operate at less than a 15% capacity factor.
Source: Electricity explained: How electricity is delivered to consumers and Electricity generation, capacity, and sales in the United States.
Power Industry Emissions, Investment, and the 2025–2050 Outlook
EIA’s AEO2026 Counterfactual Baseline case projects U.S. electricity demand to grow by about 2% per year on average from 2025 through 2050. This is a scenario projection, so realized demand can differ with weather, economic growth, electrification, and efficiency.
EIA’s IEO2023 cases project global electricity generation in 2050 at 30% to 76% above 2022 levels. Across those cases, zero-carbon technologies are projected to supply 54% to 67% of global electricity demand and account for 78% to 120% of incremental demand between 2022 and 2050; a share above 100% is possible when zero-carbon generation also displaces existing fossil generation.
| Global 2022–2050 outlook measure | EIA scenario range | Definition or caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Installed power capacity | 1.5–2 times 2022 level | Capacity, not actual generation |
| New generating capacity from zero-carbon technologies | 81%–95% | Includes storage in the modeled cases |
| Cumulative capacity additions | 4,600–9,200 GW | Scenario range through 2050 |
| Fossil generating-capacity share in 2050 | 27%–38% | Coal, natural gas, and liquid fuels combined |
India’s electricity demand is forecast to grow by an average 6.3% annually from 2025 through 2027. Worldwide electricity-generation CO2 emissions were about 13,800 million tonnes in 2024 and are forecast by the IEA to plateau over 2025–2027; this is sectoral CO2, not all greenhouse gases.
The 2050 projections are scenario ranges, not a single-point forecast, and depend on modeled technology costs, policy, growth, and electrification assumptions. The 2024 investment values are estimates or projections, while the U.S. 2025 figures identified by EIA as preliminary should be read with that qualification.
Sources: International Energy Outlook 2023, Executive summary – Electricity 2025, and Use of electricity.