Plenty of new power plants are constructed every year in the United States, adding gigawatts of power generation to grids across the country, but the past few months have illustrated a dramatic shift in the type of power plant being built. A new report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finds that of all new electricity generation built in the first two months of 2018, a full 98 percent is renewable.

According to the FERC’s Energy Infrastructure Update for February, the United States added a total of 2,173 megawatts of electricity generation in January and February combined. Of that, 1,568 megawatts come from new wind farms and 565 megawatts come from new solar installations. Only 40 megawatts come from new natural gas plants, and none come from coal.

This is a good sign for the environment, and it suggests that the U.S. is finally beginning to move away from fossil fuels. The numbers are likely to shift as time goes on, however. The FERC report also estimates that 69 percent of new energy generation added over the next three years will be from renewable sources.

On the other side, coal power has a rough road ahead, as the FERC report predicts that 15,000 megawatts worth of coal plants will close between now and 2021. By then, new wind power additions will add nearly as much power as new natural gas plants, and it’s likely within a few years nearly all new power will come from renewable sources.

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