Website: Data story
Wind, solar and geothermal electricity
Renewable energy goals
2020 goal (in graphs for years 2001-2020)
Narrative
Website text
Fact sheets
Solar Energy on the Rise
Wind Energy on the Rise
Battery Storage on the Rise
Energy Efficiency on the Rise
Electric Vehicles on the Rise
Renewables on the Rise 2020 (summary fact sheet)
Credits
Renewables on the Rise 2020 was produced by Tony Dutzik and Jamie Friedman of Frontier Group and Emma Searson of Environment America Research & Policy Center. Web and data story design by Ryan Moeckly of Public Interest GRFX. Susan Rakov, Gideon Weissman, Adrian Pforzheimer and Bryn Huxley-Reicher of Frontier Group, and Johanna Neumann of Environment America Research & Policy Center provided editorial support. The following individuals graciously provided review and insights: John Rogers, Energy Campaign Analytic Lead, Union of Concerned Scientists; Gregory Wetstone, President & Chief Executive Officer, American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE); Rachel Goldstein, Solar & Storage Analyst, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA); and Nathanael Greene, Senior Renewable Energy Policy Analyst, Natural Resources Defense Council. Environment America Research & Policy Center thanks all those who provided funding to make this project possible.
Methodology and sources
Website: Data story
For years between 2001 and 2020, the data story displays blue squares, representing the amount of electricity generated from wind, solar and geothermal energy in each year, and yellow squares, which represent the sum of mandated state renewable electricity targets for 2020 that were in place in each year. The national total for renewable energy generation includes generation in states with and without renewable electricity goals. However, state renewable energy standards also drive renewable energy growth in other states through the use of renewable electricity credits. State renewable energy goals have been responsible for about 45% of the nation’s growth in non-hydroelectric renewable energy since 2000, according to researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
For years from 2030 through 2050, the blue squares represent renewable electricity generation in 2020, while the yellow squares represent projected wind, solar and geothermal energy for each of those years from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2020. The Annual Energy Outlook projections reflect both the implementation of state renewable energy targets and increases in renewable energy use driven by other forces, and those projections have historically underestimated growth in renewable energy.
Wind, solar and geothermal electricity
The amount of electricity generated from wind, solar and geothermal sources was obtained from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, Net Generation for All Sectors, Annual, accessed at www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/ on 29 July 2020. Percentages of renewable energy were calculated by dividing renewable generation by net generation from all sources in the U.S.
2020 goal (in graphs for years 2001-2020)
Renewable energy targets for 2020 were estimated for each year based on an estimate of each state’s compliance obligation under the renewable electricity standard (RES, otherwise known as renewables portfolio standard, or RPS) in effect in that state in that year. For the years between 2017 and 2019, this was derived from the Excel table “RPS compliance data,” a supplemental table to: Galen Barbose, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Renewables Portfolio Standards: 2019 Annual Status Update, July 2019 and similar supplemental tables to earlier reports in the same series.
For goals set in years before 2017: The compliance obligation figure (in GWh) for 2017 was assumed to be the goal for every previous year in which the same RES target as in 2017 was in effect (for example, if the 2020 renewable target in effect in both 2016 and 2017 was 20%, the estimated compliance obligation for 2017 was used for 2016 as well). For preceding years when different (usually lower) targets were in effect, the compliance obligation was adjusted by the percentage difference between the old and new targets. For example, if a state increased its RPS target from 10% of electricity sales in 2015 to 20% of electricity sales in 2016, the compliance target for 2015 and previous years was assumed to be half that of the 2016 level. Previous years’ RES targets were obtained from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) report cited above, as well as from the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center’s Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) database, available at www.dsireusa.org.
State renewable electricity standards are often complex, with varying goals for different types of energy sources and electricity providers. In general, the percentage renewable energy targets for investor-owned utilities were used to estimate changes in compliance obligations from the LBNL estimates.
For states that adopted renewable electricity standards dated earlier than 2020, it was assumed that the goal in the last specified year would also apply to 2020.
State-specific notes:
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In the case of Kansas, which switched from a mandatory to a voluntary renewable electricity standard, the compliance obligation for 2020 (when the state’s standard was to have reached 20%) was assumed to be twice the level estimated for 2011 (when the standard in effect was 10%), according to “RPS compliance data,” an Excel spreadsheet supplementary to: Galen Barbose, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Renewables Portfolio Standards: 2019 Annual Status Update, July 2019. Voluntary goals are not included in the total, and so Kansas’ goal was removed from the national total when the state changed to a voluntary program.
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Ohio’s compliance obligation for 2020 was counted in the total, despite Ohio’s permanent freeze on its renewable electricity standard enacted in 2019.
Detailed sources used and assumptions made for each state’s renewable electricity targets will be made available upon request.
All facts used in the data story narrative are derived from the sources cited above, except for the following:
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2001: Doubling of renewable energy by 2020 based on U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2001, Supplemental Table 75: Renewable Resources Consumption/Displacement by Region and Source for Electricity, accessed at https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/archive/aeo01/supplement/index.html, 18 August 2020.
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2002: California 20% renewable standard: California Public Utilities Commission, Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) Program, undated, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201002150812/https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/rps/..
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2004: Five more states: Galen Barbose, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Renewables Portfolio Standards: 2019 Annual Status Update, July 2019, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201006145515/https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/rps_annual_status_update-2019_edition.pdf; Colorado: Jesse Broehl, “Colorado voters pass renewable energy standard,” Renewable Energy World, 3 November 2004, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201014181730/https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/2004/11/03/colorado-voters-pass-renewable-energy-standard-17736/#gref.
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2005: Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, Texas as a National Model for Bringing Clean Energy to the Grid, 13 October 2017, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201014183758/https://cleanenergygrid.org/texas-national-model-bringing-clean-energy-grid/.
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2006: California: USC Schwarzenegger Institute, California Has Reached its 1,000,000 Solar Roofs Goal, 18 December 2019; Maine, Washington, etc.: Galen Barbose, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Renewables Portfolio Standards: 2019 Annual Status Update, July 2019, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201006145515/https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/rps_annual_status_update-2019_edition.pdf.
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2008: NC Clean Energy Center, (Missouri) “Renewable energy standard,” Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE), updated 12 June 2018, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201014184457/https://programs.dsireusa.org/system/program/detail/2622.
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2009: Shannon Osaka, “Obama’s Recovery Act breathed new life into renewables. Now they need rescuing,” Grist, 1 June 2020, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201014185219/https://grist.org/energy/obamas-recovery-act-breathed-life-into-renewables-now-they-need-rescuing/.
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2010: Colorado: Institute for Energy Research, Colorado Renewable Energy Mandate Status, undated, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201014185514/https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Colorado-RPS.pdf; Six other states: Galen Barbose, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Renewables Portfolio Standards: 2019 Annual Status Update, July 2019, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201006145515/https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/rps_annual_status_update-2019_edition.pdf.
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2011: California State Senate Democratic Caucus, California Climate Leadership: Powering the New Economy, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20200902131701/https://focus.senate.ca.gov/sites/focus.senate.ca.gov/files/climate/505050.html.
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2012: Ryan Wiser, Mark Bolinger, et al., U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, 2012 Wind Technologies Market Report, August 2013, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201014190030/https://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/2012_wind_technologies_market_report.pdf.
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2014: Solar Energy Industries Association, A Look Back at Solar Milestones of the 2010s, 3 January 2020, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201014190317/https://www.seia.org/blog/2010s-solar-milestones.
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2015: Hawaii Governor’s Office, Governor Ige Signs Bill Setting 100 Percent Renewable Energy Goal in Power Sector (press release), 8 June 2015, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201014190835/https://governor.hawaii.gov/newsroom/press-release-governor-ige-signs-bill-setting-100-percent-renewable-energy-goal-in-power-sector/.
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2017: Natural Resources Defense Council, America’s Clean Energy Revolution: NRDC’s Fifth Annual Energy Report, October 2017, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20200809202017/https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/energy-environment-report-2017.pdf.
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2018: Camila Domonoske, National Public Radio, California Sets Goal of 100 Percent Clean Electric Power by 2045, National Public Radio, 10 September 2018, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201013141913/https://www.npr.org/2018/09/10/646373423/california-sets-goal-of-100-percent-renewable-electric-power-by-2045.
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2019: Lori Bird and Tyler Clevenger, World Resources Institute, 2019 Was a Watershed Year for Clean Energy Commitments from U.S. States and Utilities, 20 December 2019, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20201014193451/https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/12/2019-was-watershed-year-clean-energy-commitments-us-states-and-utilities.
Website text
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10% of our nation’s electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, Retail Sales of Electricity, Annual, and Net Generation for All Sectors, Annual, accessed at www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/ on 29 July 2020.
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A couple dollars at the hardware store: 2010 price: Martin LaMonica, “Sylvania 60-Watt Replacement Led Coming to Lowes,” CNET, 18 November 2010, available at https://www.cnet.com/news/sylvania-60-watt-replacement-led-coming-to-low... current price: 60-Watt Equivalent A19 Non-Dimmable LED Light Bulb Daylight (4-Pack), accessed at https://www.homedepot.com/p/EcoSmart-60-Watt-Equivalent-A19-Non-Dimmable..., 5 October 2020.
Clean energy leadership
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30-fold growth in annual solar generation: Data analysis using data from U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, All Consumption Estimates in Physical Units (CSV file), downloaded from https://www.eia.gov/state/seds/sep_use/total/csv/use_all_phy.csv, 9 September 2020.
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Three-fold growth in annual wind generation: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, Retail Sales of Electricity, Annual, and Net Generation for All Sectors, Annual, accessed at www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/ on 29 July 2020.
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1,443,900 plug-in electric vehicles: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Hybrid-Electric, Plug-in Hybrid Electric and Electric Vehicle Sales, accessed at https://www.bts.gov/content/gasoline-hybrid-and-electric-vehicle-sales, 25 September 2020.
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Capacity increased by 963.3 MW: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 detailed data with previous form data, files “2016,” “2017,” “2018” and “2019ER” downloaded from: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860/, 9 August 2020.
Untapped potential
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The cost of utility-scale solar PV electricity fell 82% …: IRENA, Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019, 2020, available at https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2020/Jun/IRENA_Power_Generation_Costs_2019.pdf.
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Experts predict that the cost of solar PV utility systems will fall by 20% …: IRENA, Future of Solar Photovoltaic, November 2019, available at https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2019/Nov/IRENA_Future_of_Solar_PV_2019.pdf; Molly Cox and Mitalee Gupta, “WoodMac: Solar and storage prices falling faster than expected due to COVID-19,” Greentech Media, 30 June 2020, available at https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/covid-19.-is-pushing-down-front-of-the-meter-solar-and-storage-pricing.
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BloombergNEF predicts…: BloombergNEF, “Energy storage is a $620 billion investment opportunity to 2040,” 6 November 2018, archived at http://web.archive.org/web/20190330164127/https://about.bnef.com/blog/energy-storage-620-billion-investment-opportunity-2040/.
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The highest-capacity wind turbine in the world was 6 MW: Paul Dvorak, Windpower Engineering and Development, The World’s Largest Turbine…For Now, 16 June 2009, available at www.windpowerengineering.com/construction/installation/the-world%E2%80%99s-largestturbine%E2%80%A6for-now/.
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Massive “Haliade-X” wind turbine: GE Renewable Energy, Haliade-X 12 MW Offshore Wind Turbine Platform, accessed at https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/offshore-wind/haliade-x-offshore-turbine on 2 October 2020.
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Up to 80% less energy: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, How Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs Compare with Traditional Incandescents, accessed at https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/save-electricity-and-fuel/lighting-choices-save-you-money/how-energy-efficient-light on 19 September 2020.
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348 terawatt-hours of electricity: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, LED Lighting, accessed at https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/save-electricity-and-fuel/lighting-choices-save-you-money/led-lighting on 19 September 2020.
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More than 75 times over with solar energy and more than 10 times over with wind energy: The United States has the technical potential to produce 283,600 terawatt-hours per year of electricity from solar energy including rooftop and utility-scale PV, and nearly 50,000 terawatt-hours of electricity from onshore and offshore wind, per: Anthony Lopez et al., National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis, July 2012, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20200925193922/https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy1... annual electricity retail sales of 3,750 terawatt-hours in 2019 from U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, Retail Sales of Electricity, United States, Annual, accessed at https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/#/topic/5?agg=0,1&geo=g&endsec=vg&linechart=ELEC.SALES.US-ALL.A~LEC.SALES.US-RES.A~ELEC.SALES.US-COM.A~ELEC.SALES.US-IND.A&columnchart=ELEC.SALES.US-ALL.A~ELEC.SALES.US-RES.A~ELEC.SALES.US-COM.A~ELEC.SALES.US-IND.A&map=ELEC.SALES.US-ALL.A&freq=A&ctype=linechart<ype=pin&rtype=s&pin=&rse=0&maptype=0, 25 September 2020.
Moving forward
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Hawaii set the first 100% renewable energy target in 2015...: Energy Sage, 100 Percent Renewable Targets, 2 May 2020, available at https://news.energysage.com/states-with-100-renewable-targets/; Environment America, 100% Renewable, accessed at https://environmentamerica.org/feature/ame/100-renewable.
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165 cities and towns …: Sierra Club, Ready for 100, accessed at https://www.sierraclub.org/ready-for-100 on 2 October 2020.
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Commitments to source their electricity from carbon-free or renewable sources: Sophia Ptacek and Sheryl Carter, National Resource Defense Council, More Utilities Make Big Commitments to Climate Action, 5 March 2019.
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100% renewable energy commitments from over 260 companies: RE100, RE100 Members, accessed at https://www.there100.org/re100-members on 2 October 2020.
Fact sheets
Solar Energy on the Rise
Data for solar energy consumption by state were downloaded from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, All Consumption Estimates in Physical Units (CSV file), downloaded from https://www.eia.gov/state/seds/sep_use/total/csv/use_all_phy.csv, 9 September 2020. Solar electricity consumption is based on values reported for code SOTGP, “solar thermal and photovoltaic electricity total net generation” in units of million kilowatt-hours.
Fact sheet sources:
Solar energy is rapidly expanding across the U.S.
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16 million homes: Solar Energy Industries Association, U.S. Solar Market Insight, accessed 10 September 2020.
Solar energy has grown 30-fold since 2010
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2 millionth system: Solar Energy Industries Association, United States Surpasses 2 Million Solar Installations (press release), 9 May 2019; 42 percent increase: Solar Energy Industries Association, Utility Solar Market Drives Q2 Growth as Pandemic Causes Drop in Rooftop Solar Installations, 10 September 2020.
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2.6% of America’s electricity and 30-fold growth: Data analysis using data from U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, All Consumption Estimates in Physical Units (CSV file), 9 September 2020.
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Electricity generating capacity additions: Solar Energy Industries Association, Solar Market Insight Report 2019 Year in Review, 17 March 2020.
Solar technology is improving and prices are falling
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Less than half as much as 10 years ago: Galen Barbose and Naim Darghouth, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Tracking the Sun: Pricing and Design Trends for Distributed Photovoltaic Systems in the United States, 2019 Edition, Excel table with data for Figure 13, 10 September 2020.
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31% more efficient: Galen Barbose and Naim Darghouth, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Tracking the Sun: Pricing and Design Trends for Distributed Photovoltaic Systems in the United States, 2019 Edition, Excel table with data for Figure 4, 10 September 2020.
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Among the least expensive: Lazard, Levelized Cost of Energy and Levelized Cost of Storage 2019, 7 November 2019; continue to fall: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Annual Technology Baseline: Residential PV Systems, 8 October 2020.
Solar energy has tremendous potential
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National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis, July 2012.
Powering America with solar energy
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Enough solar energy potential to power the nation: The United States has the technical potential to produce 283,600 terawatt-hours per year of electricity from solar energy including rooftop and utility-scale PV: Anthony Lopez et al., National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis, July 2012; annual electricity retail sales of 3,750 terawatt-hours in 2019: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, Retail Sales of Electricity, United States, Annual, 25 September 2020.
Top states for solar energy
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Top 10 states: Data analysis using data from U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, All Consumption Estimates in Physical Units (CSV file), 9 September 2020.
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40% of growth: Data analysis using data from U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, All Consumption Estimates in Physical Units (CSV file), 9 September 2020; Million Solar Roofs: Lindsey Hallock and Michelle Kinman, Frontier Group and Environment California Research & Policy Center, California’s Solar Success Story, April 2015.
Wind Energy on the Rise
Data for wind energy generation by state were downloaded from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, Net Generation for All Sectors, Annual, accessed at www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/ on 29 July 2019.
Fact sheet sources:
Wind energy is expanding rapidly across the U.S.
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33 million American homes: American Wind Energy Association, American Wind Power Moves Forward Despite Second Quarter Challenges, 14 August 2020.
Wind energy has more than tripled since 2010
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7% of America’s electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, 29 July 2019.
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Nearly 27% capacity additions: Solar Energy Industries Association, Solar Industry Research Data, 1 October 2020.
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Twice as much electricity: John Hensley, American Wind Energy Association, “Windy retrospective: 10 wind trends from the 2010’s,” Into the Wind (blog), 9 January 2020.
Offshore wind energy can power the coasts
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Offshore wind potential: Walter Musial et al., National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2016 Offshore Wind Energy Resource Assessment for the United States, September 2016; state electricity use for 2016 retail sales of electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser.
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West Coast potential: Anthony Lopez et al., National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis, July 2012.
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Rhode Island: American Wind Energy Association, Offshore Wind, 8 October 2020.
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Ambitious offshore targets: En-Former, US Eastern State Offshore Wind Targets Hit 24,500 MW, 13 January 2020.
Wind energy’s tremendous potential
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More than 10 times over: Anthony Lopez, et al., National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis, July 2012.
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The state of Texas: Texas could produce about 6,653 terawatt-hours per year of electricity from onshore and offshore wind energy: Anthony Lopez, et al., National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis, July 2012; annual electricity retail sales of 3,750 terawatt-hours in 2019: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, Retail Sales of Electricity, United States, Annual, 25 September 2020.
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Potential to power the nation: Anthony Lopez, et al., National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis, July 2012.
Top states for wind energy
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Top states for wind energy production: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, Retail Sales of Electricity, Annual, and Net Generation for All Sectors, Annual, 29 July 2020.
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13,000 turbines: Chris Ramirez, “Will 2019 be the year of the turbine? Wind energy continues to surge in Texas,” Caller Times, 17 January 2019.
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$7 Billion: Jim Malewitz, “$7 billion wind power project nears finish,” The Texas Tribune, 14 October 2013.
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Kansas and Oklahoma: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, 29 July 2019.
Battery Storage on the Rise
Utility-scale battery capacity by state was downloaded from U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 detailed data with previous form data, files “2016,” “2017,” “2018” and “2019ER,” downloaded from https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860/, 9 August 2020. The datasets were filtered to exclude any technology that wasn’t a utility-scale battery. The capacity of each state was calculated by summing the nameplate capacity by opening year in the 2019 dataset. Then capacity that had been retired and recorded on the 2019, 2018, 2017 or 2016 retirement tabs were added back for the years prior to their retirement. Each state’s capacity was checked against the data sets from 2018, 2017 and 2016 to identify any discrepancies of note (such as a West Virginia battery that began with a capacity of 32 MW and was later reduced to 16 MW), which were then adjusted to most accurately fit the information provided.
Fact sheet sources:
Utility-scale battery power capacity has grown 20-fold since 2010
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Utility-scale battery power capacity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 Detailed Data with Previous Form Data, files “2016,” “2017,” “2018” and “2019ER,” 9 August 2020.
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Almost 100-fold increase: BloombergNEF, Energy Storage is a $620 Billion Investment Opportunity to 2040, 6 November 2018.
California and the PJM regional grid lead the way on energy storage
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California battery capacity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 Detailed Data with Previous Form Data, files “2016,” “2017,” “2018” and “2019ER,” 9 August 2020.
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California Public Utilities Commission: Julia Pyper, “Tesla, Greensmith, AES Deploy Aliso Canyon battery storage in record time,” Greentech Media, 31 January 2017.
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PJM regional grid: Peter Maloney, “Storage companies file FERC complaint against PJM regulation market rules,” UtilityDive, 20 April 2017; PJM, Who We Are, 19 September 2020.
Battery storage has grown across the country
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State utility-scale battery storage power capacity growth: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 Detailed Data with Previous Form Data, files “2016,” “2017,” “2018” and “2019ER,” 9 August 2020.
Energy Efficiency on the Rise
This report used the energy efficiency rankings downloaded from Weston Berg et al., American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, The 2019 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, October 2019, available at: https://www.aceee.org/sites/default/files/publications/researchreports/u1908.pdf and
Ben Foster et al., American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, The 2012 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, October 2012, available at: https://www.aceee.org/sites/default/files/publications/researchreports/e12c.pdf. Table 12 of the
ACEEE Energy Efficiency 2012 Scorecard provided the 2010 net incremental electricity savings by state, as well as the savings as a percentage of annual retail sales for each state. Table 7 of the ACEEE Energy Efficiency 2019 Scorecard provided the 2018 net incremental electricity savings by state, as well as the savings as a percentage of 2017 retail sales for each state. The growth in percent of retail sales from 2010 to 2018 was calculated for each state, and determined the state’s rank for energy efficiency growth. To calculate the average number of homes, the EIA’s 2018 average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer of 10,972 kilowatt hours (kWh) was used.
Fact sheet sources:
America continues to become more energy efficient
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Energy use nearly tripled: U.S. Energy Information Administration, April 2019, Monthly Energy Review, 25 April 2019.
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1.5 times as much energy: Weston Berg et al., American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, The 2019 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, October 2019; Ben Foster et al., American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, The 2012 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, October 2012, 28 August 2020.
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Per capita energy consumption peaked in the late 1970s: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Table 1.7 Primary Energy Consumption, Energy Expenditures, and Carbon Dioxide Emissions Indicators, 1 October 2020.
Technological advances reduce energy consumption
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80% less energy: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, How Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs Compare with Traditional Incandescents, 19 September 2020.
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Increased from 58% to 86%: U.S. Energy Information Administration, American Households Use a Variety of Lightbulbs as CFL and LED Adoption Increases, 8 May 2017.
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348 terawatt-hours of electricity: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, LED Lighting, 19 September 2020.
Public policy has reduced energy consumption
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Minimum standards for efficiency: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Status of State Energy Code Adoption, 30 June 2020.
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89 million homes: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, The Impact of Building Energy Codes, 1 February 2017.
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More efficient vehicles: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The EPA 2019 Automotive Trends Report, March 2020; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975 Through 2016, November 2019.
Most improved states for electricity efficiency
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State electricity efficiency improvements: Weston Berg et al., American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, The 2019 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, October 2019; Ben Foster et al., American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, The 2012 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, October 2012, 28 August 2020.
Electric Vehicles on the Rise
Data on electric vehicle sales by state was downloaded from Auto Alliance, Advanced Technology Vehicle Sales Dashboard, accessed at https://autoalliance.org/energy-environment/advanced-technology-vehicle-sales-dashboard/ on 3 September 2020. As of 3 September 2020, when the data was accessed, only sales through June 2019 were available. Their interactive database was filtered to include sales from January 2019 to June 2019 for battery-electric vehicle (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) sales. The sum of BEV and PHEV sales from each state determined the ranking of the states. The national cumulative and annual sales of electric vehicles data from 2010 to 2019 is sourced from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Hybrid-Electric, Plug-in Hybrid Electric and Electric Vehicle Sales, accessed at https://www.bts.gov/content/gasoline-hybrid-and-electric-vehicle-sales, 25 September 2020.
Data on charging stations was downloaded from U.S. Department of Energy, Electric Vehicle Charging Station Locations, accessed at: https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity_locations.html#/analyze?fuel=ELEC on 25 August 2020. Only public stations filtered for electric fuel, Level 2 charging and DC Fast charging were included. The number of stations in each state determined the ranking of charging stations.
Fact sheet sources:
Nearly 330,000 electric vehicles were sold in 2019
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Vehicles sold: Mark Kane, Inside EVs, U.S. Plug-In Electric Car Sales Charted: 2019, 18 January 2020.
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Decade of sales: Electric Drive Transportation Association, Electric Drive Sales Dashboard, 15 August 2019.
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1 million sold: Auto Alliance, Advanced Technology Vehicle Sales Dashboard, 3 September 2020.
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50 models: U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Plug-in Electric Vehicle Sales by Model, January 2020.
Electric buses take off
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Over 650 electric buses: Kristoffer Tigue, “U.S. Electric Bus Demand Outpaces Production as Cities Add to Their Fleets,” Inside Climate News, 14 November 2019.
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Transit buses: EB Start, Electric Bus Industry Continues to Make Strides in 2018 (press release), 21 January 2019.
More charging stations being installed across the U.S.
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U.S. Department of Energy, Electric Vehicle Charging Station Locations, 25 August 2020.
Strong public policies can encourage electric vehicles
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Zero-emission vehicles: Auto Alliance, State Electric Vehicle Mandate, 1 September 2020.
Top states for electric vehicle sales
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Top states: Auto Alliance, Advanced Technology Vehicle Sales Dashboard, 3 September 2020.
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State zero-emission requirements: Auto Alliance, State Electric Vehicle Mandate, 1 September 2020.
Renewables on the Rise 2020 (summary fact sheet)
Clean energy is sweeping across America
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Solar energy: Data analysis using data from U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System, All Consumption Estimates in Physical Units (CSV file), 9 September 2020; Solar Energy Industries Association, U.S. Solar Market Insight, 10 September 2020.
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Wind energy: American Wind Energy Association, American Wind Power Moves Forward Despite Second Quarter Challenges, 14 August 2020; U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, 29 July 2019.
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Energy efficiency: Weston Berg et al., American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, The 2019 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, 2 October 2019; Ben Foster et al., American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, The 2012 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, October 2012.
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Electric vehicles: Electric Drive Transportation Association, Electric Drive Sales Dashboard, 15 August 2019; Mark Kane, Inside EVs, U.S. Plug-In Electric Car Sales Charted: 2019, 18 January 2020.
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Energy storage: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 detailed data with previous form data, files “2016,” “2017,” “2018” and “2019ER,” 9 August 2020.
America has tremendous renewable energy potential
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Potential to meet current electricity needs: The United States has the technical potential to produce 283,600 terawatt-hours per year of electricity from solar energy including rooftop and utility-scale PV, and nearly 50,000 terawatt-hours of electricity from onshore and offshore wind: Anthony Lopez et al., National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis, July 2012; annual electricity retail sales of 3,750 terawatt-hours in 2019: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, Retail Sales of Electricity, United States, Annual, 25 September 2020.
Renewable energy meets a rising share of America’s electricity use
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States’ wind and solar generation: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity Data Browser, Retail Sales of Electricity, Annual, and Net Generation for All Sectors, Annual, July 2020.
Interactive state charts
The sources for the data for the interactive state charts on the Renewables on the Rise 2020 website are the same as those listed for the various types of renewable energy and clean energy technology growth in the “Fact sheets” section above.