In May 2026, Utah got more electricity from solar than from any other source, a first for the state.
It was another sign of Utah's gradual retreat from coal — and of how quickly the state's electricity mix has been shifting.
What happened?
Using Ember data, Grist reported that Utah's solar facilities generated almost 1 terawatt-hour of electricity in May 2026.
Ember's monthly figures put natural gas at 32% of Utah's generation, coal at 28%, and wind at 2%, with solar making up about one-third of the total.
To Dan Schroeder, a Weber State University physics professor who regularly follows energy data, the milestone is the result of steady expansion over time.
"The trend of more and more solar in Utah is wonderful news for air quality, it's wonderful news for the climate, and it's wonderful news for jobs and the economy," he said.
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New large-scale projects played a major role. Grist reported that the 2,500-acre Green River Energy Center came online in spring 2026 with 400 megawatts of solar and 400 megawatts of battery storage.
Other additions were already feeding the grid. Excelsior Energy Capital's Faraday Solar project in Utah County began sending up to 685 megawatts to the Meta data center in fall 2025, while the Elektron Solar Project began supplying electricity to Salt Lake City, Park City, and Summit County in June 2024.
Why does it matter?
More solar power could mean cleaner air and a grid less dependent on volatile fuel costs.
Burning coal and natural gas produces planet-warming pollution and contributes to smog, while solar panels and battery storage can provide electricity without that pollution during operation.
Job growth is another part of the story. As Grist summarized from Solar Energy Industries Association data, Utah's solar industry supports nearly 8,000 jobs and includes 132 companies, among them 54 developers and 23 manufacturers.
Grist also reported that investors committed $1.5 billion to Utah's solar market in 2025 alone.
By comparison, some fossil-fuel industries employ fewer Utahns. According to federal labor data, oil and gas extraction made up 1,291 Utah jobs in 2025, while coal mining made up 1,059 jobs in 2023, the most recent year available for that industry.
Utah's grid once leaned heavily on coal. Coal generation ranged from 64% to 78% of the state's electricity in 2017, but by spring 2026 its share had fallen to less than one-third.
What's being done?
More large-scale clean-energy projects are continuing to reshape Utah's grid, particularly when paired with battery storage that can help keep electricity flowing after sunset.
Nationally, as Grist reported, citing U.S. Energy Information Administration projections, solar is expected to provide about 51% of new utility-scale generation added in 2026, alongside major additions in battery storage and wind.
Logan Mitchell, a climate scientist and energy analyst with Utah Clean Energy, said PacifiCorp's broader regional portfolio across Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho is also seeing wind generation rise.
December 2025 and January 2026 offered a clear example: in that larger system, wind was the leading source of electricity, helped by new turbines including the 400-megawatt Rock Creek II addition.
As Mitchell told Grist, the seasonal pattern can support grid reliability: wind tends to generate more electricity in winter, while solar output peaks in summer.
As Rocky Mountain Power spokesperson Jona Whitesides put it, "A lot of days we are using more wind. There are no fuel costs there; it's essentially free."
At the same time, federal support for wind and solar is being reduced, and PacifiCorp has backed away from some planned renewable development for now.
Utility plans are updated regularly.
Schroeder said, "Utah still has room to grow its solar percentage."
Mitchell added, "We're going to see milestones like this increasingly happen."
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