Renewables dominate new U.S. electrical capacity

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/climate-energy/renewables-dominate-new-u-s-electrical-capacity/

?w=470&h=265&crop=1

First, the good news — break out the champagne! The overwhelming majority of new U.S. electrical capacity is coming from wind and solar, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC just released its monthly analysis for February, and the Sun Day campaign, a research and advocacy organization promoting sustainable energy, summarizes the findings:

Wind and solar provided 80.9% of new installed U.S. electrical generating capacity for the month of February. …

For the first two months of 2014, renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, solar, water, wind) accounted for 91.9% of the 568 [megawatts] of new domestic electrical generating installed. Coal, oil, and nuclear provided none while natural gas and 1 MW of “other” provided the balance.

Now are you ready to get sober? The current U.S. energy portfolio is still overwhelmingly dirty. As Sun Day notes, “Renewable energy sources, including hydropower, now account for 16.14% of total installed U.S. operating generating capacity.” That’s a start. But the U.S. is a massive energy consumer, the largest in the world. To reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, we will need to keep up this pace of renewable expansion while simultaneously taking coal-, oil-, and gas-burning plants offline. That can only be accomplished through a combination of higher prices for fossil fuels and reduced consumption through efficiency.

[newfie11]

1. They better

I hope it's not to late!

[djean111]

2. Hopefully the nuke lovers are just sitting back and raking in customer money for

"thinking about new nuclear plants", and won't actually succeed in building more. That is the lesser evil these days.

[Bill USA]

3. great news. here's some particulars on Wind Power...for 2012, 2013

2012 wind industry report
http://awea.files.cms-plus.com/images/AWEA_USWindIndustryAnnualMarketReport2012_ExecutiveSummary(2).pdf

◆◆ 13,131 Amount of new wind capacity,
in megawatts, installed during 2012,
a 28% annual growth rate.

◆◆ 60,007 Total installed wind capacity in the U.S.
at the end of 2012, able to power the equivalent
of roughly 15 million American homes.

◆◆ #1 Rank of wind energy as source of
new generating capacity in 2012, installing
42% of all new generating capacity.

◆◆ $25 Amount, in billions, of new investment
in wind energy projects installed during 2012.

◆◆ >20% Percent of wind energy generation
produced in Iowa and South Dakota; with nine
states in total producing more than 10% of their
generation from wind energy.(more)

2013 industry report:

http://awea.files.cms-plus.com/FileDownloads/pdfs/AWEA%204Q2013%20Wind%20Energy%20Industry%20Market%20Report_Public%20Version.pdf

2013 Installation Details

• [font size="4" color="red"]Following the late extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC)[/font] plus the historic level of installations in the fourth quarter of 2012, the U.S. wind industry installed 1.6 megawatts (MW) of new capacity during the first quarter of 2013 and 0 MW during the second quarter
of 2013. During the third quarter, the U.S. wind industry installed 68.3 MW through the completion of projects in Alaska, California and Colorado. The fourth quarter of 2013 saw the most activity with 1,012.4 MW completed across Kansas, California, Michigan, Texas, New York, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Massachussetts and Indiana.

• Total wind power capacity installations for 2013 were 1,084 MW. This represents a 92% reduction from the record-setting 13,131 MW installed during 2012 and this drop-off can be attributed to the late extension of the PTC and ITC.

• There are now 61,108 MW of installed wind capacity in the United States. This is enough to power over 15.3 million homes.

Wind Power Construction Activity

•[font size="+1"] At the end of 2013 there were more U.S. wind power MW under construction than ever in history: more than 10,900 MW started construction activity during the fourth quarter and more than 12,000 MW are currently under construction. When completed, these 90+ projects will generate enough electricity annually to power 3.5 million households.[/font]

• Projects are currently under construction in at least 20 states. There are more than 7,000 MW under construction in Texas - more MW than any other state currently has installed. The second most MW are under construction in Iowa (1,050 MW). Other top states for construction activity include Kansas (722 MW), North Dakota (632 MW), Michigan (342 MW) and New Mexico (317 MW).
(more)