Even as President Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the U.S. and remains the leading source of new power.

Data released Wednesday by global energy think tank Ember, along with a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the United States despite federal policy. In May, for the first time, solar supplied more of the nation's electricity than coal, or 12.8 percent, Ember said. Coal supplied 12.2 percent, its fourth-lowest monthly share ever.

"For years solar power has risen in the U.S. electricity mix," said Nicolas Fulghum, senior energy and data analyst at Ember. "At the same time, coal power has lost its status, first as the largest source in the U.S. mix, and then gradually over the years has fallen even further."

Solar also became the third-largest source of electricity in the U.S. in May, behind natural gas and nuclear, Fulghum said. Coal generation hit an all-time monthly low in April and rebounded only modestly in May, allowing increasing solar generation to overtake coal, he added.

Sean McKenna, a researcher at Nevada's Desert Research Institute, said falling costs have helped make solar power increasingly competitive. 

"Leveled cost of electricity from solar is now the cheapest generation of electricity in many states," McKenna said.

However, he pointed out that the transition away from coal in the U.S. has been more toward natural gas, driven by relatively low gas prices over the past decade. He added that increased reliance on natural gas had created supply-chain constraints for generation equipment, particularly gas turbines.

Those broader energy trends are also visible in Nevada, McKenna said.

In its latest integrated resource plan outlining its upcoming energy strategies, NV Energy indicated it intends to enter into power purchase agreements for 4,550 megawatts of solar projects with third-party developers and add more than 5,400 megawatts of paired battery storage. 

However, the utility is also looking at developing more than 1,200 megawatts of natural gas over the next six years. 

As of June 2025, Nevada consumed more than 11 times more energy than it produces, and projections for future energy needs in the state are astronomical. But NV Energy is forecasting an increase in peak demand of more than 40 percent over the next five years, primarily from the overwhelming power needs of data centers looking to expand into the state.

McKenna said Nevada has about a four-year interconnection queue — a waitlist and review process for power projects seeking to connect to the grid — with most pending capacity consisting of solar and battery storage.

After about two decades of essentially flat electricity consumption in the U.S., electricity demand is increasing to power artificial intelligence, grow domestic manufacturing and electrify transportation and heating. Fulghum said he expects to see more months when solar exceeds coal generation, before overtaking it on an annual basis in a few years.

These milestones signify that solar "has staying power" at a time when there's less support for renewable energy at the federal level, he added.

Those milestones come as the Trump administration has moved to support coal production while scaling back some federal clean energy initiatives.

Last week, Trump announced a plan to boost the struggling U.S. coal industry by spending nearly $700 million to support coal-fired power plants and coal exports. Trump said at a White House event that "coal's a great business" and that "in terms of power, there's really nothing like it."

Martin Pochtaruk, CEO and founder of Canadian-based solar panel manufacturer Heliene, said Trump can say that coal is coming back, but investors will back whatever brings the best return. And for power generation that is solar, making it the fastest-growing fuel, he added.

A White House spokeswoman defended the Trump administration's overall energy policies, saying they were geared toward strengthening the country's security.

"The President has reversed the Left's devastating policies, saved the American coal industry, prevented the retirement of more than 17 gigawatts of power, and saved lives during heightened demand periods," Taylor Rogers said in a statement.

While Trump is trying to reverse the coal industry's decline, solar has been the top source for new power for five years, SEIA said. SEIA and Wood Mackenzie said solar and battery storage were practically the only energy resources being built in the first quarter, making up 91 percent of all new generating capacity.

The Trump administration has canceled solar and wind projects, implemented policies that slowed clean energy permitting and development and terminated $7 billion in funding intended for affordable solar energy projects across the U.S.

"As power demand skyrockets, political and regulatory attacks are slowing down the exact resources we rely on," Darren Van't Hof, interim president and CEO of SEIA, said in a statement. "Impeding the only sector that is actively building new power is a reckless gamble that will only drive electricity bills higher."

Trump has blamed renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power for skyrocketing energy costs. But energy analysts say recent price hikes are based on growing demand, aging infrastructure and increasingly extreme weather events that are exacerbated by climate change. Most recently, the war in Iran has also led to a spike in energy costs.

Blaming clean energy is "nonsensical," said U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), adding that "not even lighting $700 million of taxpayer money on fire" can save the dying coal industry.