Soaring solar and a surge in hydro push more coal off the US grid

The first data from 2026 seem to indicate that last year was an oddity.

Last year, the first few months of data from the US grid suggested that fears of a data-center-driven surge in demand were becoming a reality. Demand had risen by about 3 percent, triggering a surge in coal, interrupting what had been a long downward trend. But over the course of the year, both trends slowed considerably.