The Energy Transition Charted

Inside Clean Energy: Three Charts that Show the Energy Transition in 50 States; Renewables are up and coal is down in most places, at a time of major changes in how we produce electricity.

Dan Gearino, August 5, 2021 (Inside Climate News)

“The Energy Information Administration reported last week that, for the first time ever, the United States generated more electricity from renewable sources in 2020 than from coal…Texas stands out as the country’s renewable energy leader, when measured by gigawatt-hours of electricity generated. The runner-up is California, which leads in solar power but has little wind power…Iowa beats everybody except Texas and California. Oklahoma is right behind…[There are important successes] of renewable energy in Republican-leaning states like Kansas, North Carolina and Oklahoma…

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Nationwide, renewable energy sources (including wind, solar, hydroelectric, biomass and geothermal) generated 834,236 gigawatt-hours last year, enough to pass coal and nuclear, which generated 773,805 and 789,919 gigawatt-hours, respectively…Renewables were second only to natural gas, which, with 1.6 million gigawatt-hours, was way out in front. In percentage terms, natural gas was used to generate 40 percent of the country’s electricity, followed by renewables at 21 percent; nuclear at 20 percent; coal at 19 percent…[C]oal is having a bit of a comeback in 2021…[But it is likely to be] a brief recovery from a long-term decline…

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If renewables fall behind coal in 2022, the two are likely to switch places again soon after, probably in 2023…Some of the states with the greatest decreases in coal power—including Texas, Pennsylvania and Illinois—have laws that require most power plants to compete…In many more states, however, power plants are insulated from market forces…This helps to explain why North Dakota, Missouri, West Virginia and Wyoming have had only small decreases in their electricity generation from coal…[But] each state has its own story…” click here for more

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