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(CNN Business) - The last time the United States consumed more renewable energy than coal was in the 19th century, when hydropower was just getting started and wood burning was an important source of fuel.
Now it has happened again, as the nation consumed more energy last year from renewable sources like solar and wind power than from coal. This is the first time it has happened since before 1885.
The milestone, announced Thursday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, demonstrates the dramatic change in coal despite President Donald Trump's promises to shore up the industry.
US coal consumption plunged by another 15% last year to its weakest level since 1964, the EIA said. The sixth consecutive year of declines for coal occurred even when Trump reduced environmental regulations and installed a former coal lobbyist to lead the EPA.
Renewable energy, by contrast, continues to boom as costs fall and concerns about climate change increase. Renewable energy consumption in the United States hit a record last year, the fourth consecutive year of growth, the EIA noted.
"We are steadily, consistently and rapidly moving away from coal," said Dennis Wamsted, a research analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. "The Trump administration has not been able to completely change the market transition to cleaner and cheaper renewable energy."
Coal has played a dominant role in the United States' energy grid since the 1880s. It was replaced by natural gas, a cleaner-burning fossil fuel, in 2016, a transition caused by the abundance of cheap natural gas from the oil and gas shale revolution and stricter environmental regulations.
Now, coal faces strong competition from renewable energy such as wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal. Wind has been growing especially fast, and last year wind power generation outpaced hydropower for the first time and is now the most popular form of renewable energy generation in the United States.
It's important to note that EIA statistics released Thursday measure only consumption, not power generation. From that perspective, coal still beats renewable energy, at least for now.
The first time the United States generated more electricity from renewables than coal occurred in April 2019, and is likely to occur annually for the first time in 2020, despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
"People want renewable energy. Corporations ask for it, "said Wamstead. "They are being pushed by consumers."
Electric companies are rapidly shutting down coal-fired power plants in favor of natural gas and renewable energy under pressure from the public and shareholders. Xcel Energy and Duke Energy, power companies that have long relied on coal, have pledged to break free of carbon for decades to come.
This week, the latest promise came from Southern Company, which gets 27% of its energy from coal and 47% from natural gas, and announced at its annual shareholders meeting a new goal to achieve zero net emissions by 2050.
The utility company promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, a goal it now hopes to achieve in 2025.
Having promised to ditch coal, power companies face pressure from shareholders and activists to abandon fossil fuels entirely by transitioning away from natural gas. Long regarded as a bridge fuel, there are growing concerns about methane emissions and leaks caused by the use of natural gas.
"That will be the next battle," Wamsted concluded.
Renewable energy
