MAY 04

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released a map that shows which states have the highest concentration of renewable power. The map compares 2001 to 2011 and displays the share of total net generation of non-hydro renewable energy for each state.

As you can see, Maine, South Dakota and Iowa all are getting over 15 percent of their power from renewable sources. Maine got 27 percent of its electricity from renewables in 2011, South Dakota 21 percent and Iowa 17 percent.

The entire country has seen a major jump in renewable energy share, but the Dakotas, Wyoming and Iowa and other states in the Midwest had the most  impressive growth over 2001 when virtually no renewables were in place. The reason for the growth in many states is due to renewable energy standards that require utilities to get a certain percentage of their power share from renewable sources. States like California, Colorado and Vermont have strict ones in place, while the entire region of the Southeast have no standards or much less strict ones and you can see how those states lag behind on the map.

If you add hydro power back in, Idaho, Washington and Oregon win with 93 percent, 82 percent and 78 percent coming from renewables, respectively.

Of course, this map shows renewable energy generation from just one perspective: percentage of total electricity generation. When it comes to total capacity, the winners are a bit different. According to the EIA, here's the top six in 2012 in that category:

1. Texas
2. California
3. Iowa
4. Minnesota
5. Washington
6. Illinois

via Washington Post

Comments (6)

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written by Anonymous, May 04, 2012

Dammit, Ohio, you're making us look bad.

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written by BruceMcF, May 04, 2012

My favorite sortings would be output per person, and output per square mile.

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Question.
written by Hank, May 05, 2012

What do you mean with Total Capacity and the winners being a bit different?

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written by Juan Miguel Ruiz, May 05, 2012

The US can do a lot worse with renewable energy, but they can certain do A LOT better. I'm seeing too much white on that map, which is troubling.

Juan Miguel Ruiz
GreenJoyment.com

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alaska should be ranked higher
written by dan lesh, May 10, 2012

the non-hydro screen distorts these data. Alaska's hydro power plants are fish friends and supply around 25% of the states electrical needs.

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written by Harriet, May 10, 2012

I was wondering the same thing, Hank, so I went to the original story,which has an update: "...looking at what percent of a state’s electricity is renewable only gives part of the picture, since a small state like Maine with relatively few wind turbines can look better than a huge state like Texas that has many more turbines."

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