U.S. electricity generation from solar surpassed coal for the first time in May.
Solar generated 12.8% of the country’s electricity last month, while coal declined to 12.2%. That’s according to Ember, a global energy policy group.
The shift coincides with a renewed push by the Trump administration to revive coal generation.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $500 million to 13 coal plants nationwide to keep them on the grid longer. Two are owned by East Kentucky Power Cooperative and another is partially owned by Kentucky Power.
For now, coal is still the dominant fuel for electricity in Kentucky. Nationwide, though, natural gas overtook coal a decade ago. Renewables, including wind and solar, have surpassed coal in recent years.
According to Ember, coal still generated nearly 20% of U.S. electricity just five years ago.
Two decades ago, coal had a nearly 50% share. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, unlocked an abundance of cheaper natural gas, and utilities nationwide started to move away from coal.
The Trump administration has taken more aggressive steps in its current term to reverse the decline. The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered power plants to stay on the grid instead of winding down their operation.
Coal plants in Michigan, Indiana, Colorado, Washington and Florida have been kept online instead of retiring as planned.
The department has also granted hundreds of millions of dollars to power plants and utilities.
That includes $51 million to the Mitchell plant in West Virginia, jointly owned by Kentucky Power and Wheeling Power, to replace a cooling tower with structural problems.
It also includes $90 million to East Kentucky Power to enable its Spurlock and Cooper plants to use natural gas in addition to coal.
The Trump administration has also rolled back regulations on power plant emissions considered disfavorable to coal generation.
In February, it rescinded a Biden administration update to mercury and air toxics limits. The deputy administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the change in Louisville.
In March, according to Ember, solar generated nearly 11% of U.S. electricity. Coal generated 12% that month.
