Notes on the data
Short explainers built on the 2025 EIA-860 records: how big plants are, how old, what each state runs on, what the capacity numbers mean and how the fleet changed over the past decade. Each one is written by Megan Sullivan from the tables it shows.
- How big is a US power plant?
Most plants are small; a few hundred giants hold most of the capacity.
- The largest power plants in the US
The top 25 by nameplate capacity, and the biggest site for each fuel.
- How old are US power plants?
The decade each fuel was built in, and the oldest units still working.
- What each state’s power plants run on
Natural gas leads in most states; wind, hydro and coal lead in the rest.
- Nameplate and summer capacity explained
Why a plant’s two capacity numbers differ, technology by technology.
- What came online and what retired, 2016–2025
Ten years of additions and retirements, year by year and fuel by fuel.
- Balancing areas and the plants in them
Who keeps supply and demand matched, and how much capacity each area holds.