From July 2025 through June 2026, low-carbon sources supplied almost 58% of Idaho’s electricity consumption. Hydropower led with about 38%, followed by wind at roughly 11%, solar at 7%, and biofuels at just under 2%. Solar included about 6% from utility-scale installations and 1% from systems behind the meter, such as rooftop panels. Fossil generation, entirely gas in the supplied data, accounted for about 19%. Net imports supplied the remaining 23%; their generation mix is not specified, so they cannot be classified here as either clean or fossil electricity.

Is Electricity Growing in Idaho?

Idaho’s electricity consumption per person was essentially flat in 2026, at about 14,440 kWh—60 kWh, or roughly 0.4%, below the 2025 record. These per-person figures do not establish whether total statewide electricity consumption grew. Clean electricity generation per person, however, reached a welcome new record of about 8,330 kWh, exceeding the previous year’s record by 830 kWh, or around 11%. That strong clean-electricity growth is encouraging, although the slight decline in consumption per person underscores the importance of preparing for future electricity demand from electrification and AI.

Suggestions

Idaho can build on its existing wind generation while accelerating solar development and considering nuclear power as another major source of clean electricity. Nearby examples offer useful benchmarks: wind supplies about 31% of electricity generation in the US state of Wyoming and 23% in the US state of Montana. For solar, Idaho can learn from the US states of Nevada and Utah, where solar provides about 35% and 20% of generation, respectively. Nuclear also deserves serious consideration: it supplies a quarter of electricity generation in the US state of Arizona and almost half in the US state of Illinois. Learning from these regions could help Idaho expand its low-carbon electricity supply and reduce reliance on gas, with benefits for the climate and air quality.

History

The supplied history shows that Idaho’s recent low-carbon electricity gains have been led by hydropower. Hydro generation increased by 0.8 TWh in 2024 and 0.6 TWh in 2025, before adding a particularly strong 1.5 TWh in 2026—a combined increase of 2.9 TWh across those annual changes. Wind added 0.7 TWh in 2024 and another 0.1 TWh in 2025, but showed no further increase in 2026, making renewed expansion a clear opportunity. Biofuels increased by 0.1 TWh in 2025 and were otherwise unchanged, while geothermal generation showed no change throughout the three years. Overall, the clean-electricity gains are worth celebrating, and broader growth across wind, solar, and potentially nuclear would help sustain that progress.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

* 12M = Last 12 months (Jul 2025 – Jun 2026) — a rolling 12-month period, not a calendar year.