U.S. nuclear plants generated about 785 billion kilowatthours of electricity in the electric power sector in 2025, and the Energy Information Administration expects output of about 788 billion kWh in 2026 and 801 billion kWh in 2027, according to its November 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook released Nov. 10.

The EIA chart of net generation by source shows how steady the nuclear fleet has been over the past decade. Nuclear output was about 806 billion kWh in 2016 and has stayed within a narrow band of roughly 770 billion to 810 billion kWh every year since, even as other sources rose and fell around it.

Nuclear's share of total generation has eased because overall generation keeps growing. Nuclear supplied about 20.6% of electric power sector generation in 2016 and about 18.4% in 2025, and EIA forecasts its share will average 18% in both 2026 and 2027. Total generation rose from about 3.92 trillion kWh in 2016 to 4.27 trillion kWh in 2025 and is forecast to reach 4.44 trillion kWh in 2027.

EIA expects U.S. electricity generation to grow 1.2% in 2027 as commercial and industrial demand continues to rise. It forecasts that natural gas will supply close to 40% of generation in 2026 and 2027, while coal's share falls from 17% in 2025 to 15% by 2027 as 13 gigawatts of coal capacity is scheduled to retire by the end of 2027.

The data keep nuclear as the second largest source of U.S. electric power sector generation after natural gas through the forecast period, ahead of coal, wind, solar, and hydropower.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration - https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/elec_coal_renew.php