America isn’t making electrical energy the way in which it did 20 years in the past.
Fossil fuels nonetheless generate the vast majority of America’s electrical energy, however the shift from coal to pure fuel and renewable energy has helped reduce planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions and different dangerous air pollution.
Final 12 months, coal was the highest electrical energy gasoline in 10 states, down from almost two-thirds of states in 2001. Pure fuel largely took over throughout that point, however wind additionally emerged as a number one energy supply throughout the Midwest.
Nonetheless, consultants say there’s a lengthy technique to go if the nation desires to zero out emissions from the facility sector to struggle local weather change, a purpose set by President Biden.
Switching from coal to fuel “will get you a part of the way in which there,” stated Melissa Lott, a researcher on the Middle on International Vitality Coverage at Columbia College, as a result of burning pure fuel for energy produces fewer carbon dioxide emissions than burning coal. However fewer emissions just isn’t the identical as zero emissions, she added. “Many extra applied sciences, together with renewables, should be constructed rapidly to get us all the way in which to our local weather targets,” Dr. Lott stated.
Mr. Biden’s signature local weather and power regulation, the 2022 Inflation Discount Act, aimed to turbocharge the expansion of renewable wind and photo voltaic power nationwide and to help different clear energy applied sciences like nuclear power, superior batteries and carbon seize and storage for fuel crops. However the way forward for that regulation remains uncertain in an election 12 months, with Republicans promising to repeal lots of its clean-energy provisions.
What occurs on the federal degree is simply a part of the equation. States have the facility to speed up, decelerate or block clear power, too.
We charted how electrical energy era has modified in each state up to now, from 2001 to 2023, utilizing information from the USA Vitality Data Administration. Discover your state beneath:
In 2001, coal fueled greater than half of the electrical energy produced in Alabama, however most of the state’s growing old coal energy crops have closed since then or shifted to burning cheaper pure fuel. By 2014, fuel had turn out to be the highest electrical energy supply within the state, adopted by nuclear. And, final 12 months, coal fueled simply 14 p.c of the state’s electrical energy era.
Hydro has lengthy been Alabama’s largest supply of renewable energy. The state produced lower than 1 p.c of its energy from photo voltaic power final 12 months.
Alabama generates extra electrical energy than it consumes and usually sends about one-third of its output to close by states. (Exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Pure fuel has been Alaska’s high supply of energy for 20 years, offering greater than half of the state’s electrical energy in most years. Hydro, petroleum and coal provide many of the relaxation. In 2010, Alaska set a nonbinding goal to supply 50 p.c of its electrical energy from renewable and various power sources by 2025, however the state has solely seen a small uptick in wind energy era since then.
Alaska has its personal electrical grid, which implies “no matter electrical energy is created there may be what they’re consuming,” stated Glenn McGrath, an influence programs analyst on the U.S. Vitality Data Administration. “It’s about as remoted as you may get.”
Many rural communities in Alaska will not be linked to the primary grid and use diesel mills for energy, though smaller, community-based wind turbines have gotten extra widespread.
Coal was Arizona’s high supply of electrical energy era till 2016, when pure fuel surpassed it. Coal-fired era has declined quickly over the previous decade as a number of the state’s coal energy crops shut down and others switched to cheaper pure fuel.
In recent times, pure fuel has taken over because the state’s high supply of energy, with fuel fueling 46 p.c of Arizona’s electrical energy era final 12 months. The state can also be dwelling to the second-largest nuclear energy plant within the nation.
Arizona makes extra electrical energy than it makes use of and exports energy to close by states. (Exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
The state has plentiful photo voltaic assets. Its largest utility, Arizona Public Service, set a voluntary goal of getting 65 p.c of its electrical energy from carbon-free sources by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Nonetheless, the utility lobbied against proposals to codify these renewable targets into regulation.
Coal was the most important supply of electrical energy era in Arkansas for a lot of the previous 20 years. However its function within the state’s electrical combine diminished over time as pure fuel energy expanded. After vying with coal for the highest slot, fuel has been the state’s largest supply of energy era since 2022.
Arkansas generates extra electrical energy than it consumes and sends energy to close by states. (Exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Pure fuel has been California’s high electrical energy gasoline since 2001, however greater than half of the facility produced within the state final 12 months got here from renewable power and different carbon-free sources, together with photo voltaic, wind, geothermal, hydro and nuclear.
Solar energy, specifically, has grown quickly over the previous decade, largely due to supportive state insurance policies. On the identical time, nuclear energy has declined. (One of many state’s two nuclear crops closed in 2012. The opposite is now slated to retire in 2030.)
California has typically led the way in which on clear energy, utilizing state coverage to encourage the adoption of fresh energy applied sciences like photo voltaic panels and giant grid batteries. In 2018, the state set a purpose for utilities to get all of their electricity from zero-carbon sources by 2045. State utilities and regulators are actually wrestling with how rapidly they’ll cut back dependence on pure fuel whereas nonetheless sustaining a dependable energy provide.
California consumes extra electrical energy than it generates inside its borders and usually imports about one-third to one-fifth of the facility it makes use of. (Imports will not be mirrored within the chart above.)
Coal has been Colorado’s high supply of electrical energy for greater than 20 years. However coal-fired era shrank to 32 p.c of the state’s energy combine final 12 months from 76 p.c in 2001. On the identical time, pure fuel and wind energy elevated their function within the state’s electrical combine. In recent times, wind generators have equipped greater than 1 / 4 of the electrical energy produced in Colorado, sufficient to turn out to be the state’s second-largest supply of electrical energy in 2021 and 2022. However fuel energy topped wind once more final 12 months.
Colorado goals to get 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2040. The state’s largest utility, Xcel Vitality, plans to phase out its remaining coal-burning power plants by 2030 in favor of cleaner options.
Colorado normally consumes extra electrical energy than it generates and imports energy from close by states. (Imports will not be proven within the chart above.)
Pure fuel and nuclear power have fueled the overwhelming majority of Connecticut’s electrical energy era over the past 20 years. However fuel era has elevated considerably since 2010 and fuel now provides almost 60 p.c of the facility produced within the state.
On the identical time, the quantity of electrical energy that comes from different fossil fuels, together with coal and petroleum, has declined. Connecticut’s final remaining coal plant, Bridgeport Harbor, retired in 2021.
Connecticut goals to get 100 percent of its electricity from zero-emissions sources by 2040. Final 12 months, nuclear energy supplied 33 p.c of the state’s electrical energy era and one other 5 p.c got here from renewable sources, principally photo voltaic.
Pure fuel displaced coal as the first supply of electrical energy produced in Delaware in 2010 and has dominated the state’s energy combine since then. Coal era, in the meantime, has dwindled. Coal fueled 70 p.c of the state’s energy era in 2008, its peak 12 months, however solely supplied backup energy throughout some months final 12 months.
Partly due to this shift, carbon dioxide emissions from the state’s electrical energy sector have fallen over the previous decade. Delaware requires that state utilities generate or procure 40 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2035, together with 10 p.c from photo voltaic.
Energy produced in-state usually provides “a lot lower than the state wants,” in line with the U.S. Vitality Data Administration. Delaware will get the vast majority of its electrical energy from neighboring states by the regional grid. (Imports will not be proven on the chart above.)
In 2001, greater than one-third of the electrical energy produced in Florida got here from burning coal. Two years later, pure fuel surpassed coal because the state’s high supply of energy era and has continued to increase its share within the state’s electrical combine ever since. By final 12 months, pure fuel fueled three-fourths of Florida’s electrical energy era, considerably increased than the nationwide common.
Regardless of its nickname, the Sunshine State has been slow to adopt solar power. However utility-scale photo voltaic installations have picked up in the last few years. Florida is the second-largest producer of electrical energy nationwide, after Texas, however nonetheless imports a small quantity of energy from neighboring states to fulfill shopper demand. (Imports will not be mirrored within the chart above.)
In 2024, Florida lawmakers passed a bill that cuts help for renewable power tasks and makes it simpler to construct pure fuel infrastructure. The brand new regulation prohibits building of offshore wind generators in state waters, repeals state grant applications that encourage power conservation and renewable power and cancels the state’s voluntary renewable power targets.
Coal supplied the vast majority of Georgia’s electrical energy era by the 2000s however declined sharply in the course of the 2010s as pure fuel energy elevated. Fuel has been the state’s high supply of energy for many of the final decade, with nuclear energy typically in second place.
Georgia is the one state to deliver new nuclear capability on-line in recent times: Two new reactors that opened in 2023 and 2024. They had been the primary new nuclear reactors within the nation to be constructed from scratch in many years, however the tasks had been tormented by delays and significant cost overruns.
Solar energy has additionally grown rapidly within the state in recent times, offering about 6 p.c of Georgia’s energy in 2023. The state can also be nonetheless increasing fossil gasoline energy. Georgia Energy, the state’s principal utility, plans to build a number of new producing stations fueled by oil and fuel within the coming years to serve growing power demand from information facilities and new clean-energy manufacturing hubs.
Hawaii has relied closely on imported oil to make electrical energy for the previous 20 years. However the state has an ambitious plan to generate all of its energy from clear power sources by 2045. In September 2022, Hawaii shut down its final coal-burning energy plant, a serious milestone in the direction of that purpose. Final 12 months, there was no utility-scale coal era in Hawaii for the primary time because the early Seventies, however delays within the deployment of latest photo voltaic and battery tasks meant oil-fired era ticked up.
The state lately opened a new, large-scale battery storage facility as a part of its technique to switch the coal energy that was retired. (Battery charging and discharging just isn’t proven within the charts above, which replicate web era.)
Photo voltaic era, principally from small-scale rooftop panels, has grown quickly within the state over the previous decade and supplied almost 20 p.c of Hawaii’s energy final 12 months. In complete, about 31 p.c of the state’s electrical energy was made by renewable sources in 2023.
Hydro generated the overwhelming majority of Idaho’s electrical energy in the course of the 2000s and early 2010s. However in recent times, drought situations have pushed down the quantity of hydroelectric energy produced within the state. Idaho nonetheless makes the vast majority of its electrical energy from renewable sources, with hydro offering 43 p.c of in-state energy era final 12 months and wind and photo voltaic collectively offering one other 22 p.c. However pure fuel energy has expanded considerably on the identical time.
Idaho additionally imports a large quantity of energy from out of state to fulfill its electrical energy wants. Prior to now, a lot of this energy has come from coal-fired mills in neighboring states, however Oregon closed its last coal plant in 2020 and different close by coal crops are scheduled to close down over the subsequent a number of years. (Imports will not be proven on the chart.)
Nuclear power has been Illinois’s high supply of energy era for a lot of the final 20 years, accounting for about half of the electrical energy produced within the state throughout most years. Coal was lengthy the second-largest energy supply, briefly surpassing nuclear as the highest era gasoline in 2004 and once more in 2008. However coal’s function within the state energy combine has declined considerably in recent times as older coal-fired energy crops have retired or been transformed to burn pure fuel. Each pure fuel and wind era have grown over the previous decade, and final 12 months fuel surpassed coal because the second-largest supply of energy within the state.
In 2021, Illinois set a purpose of getting 100 of its energy from carbon-free power sources by 2050, however the state has struggled to meet shorter-term targets. Illinois produces significantly extra electrical energy than it makes use of and sends about one-fifth to Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states by long-distance transmission traces. (Exports will not be proven on the chart.)
Coal fueled many of the electrical energy made in Indiana for greater than 20 years, however its share within the state’s energy combine has declined as pure fuel era has taken off and older coal-fired energy crops have retired. Final 12 months, fuel supplied almost 40 p.c of the state’s electrical energy era, up from 2 p.c in 2001.
About 14 p.c of the state’s electrical energy got here from renewable sources final 12 months, principally wind. Over the previous decade, Indiana has used extra electrical energy every year than it produces inside its borders and imported the remainder from out of state. (Imports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Wind energy has taken off in Iowa over the previous decade, surpassing coal because the state’s high supply of electrical energy in 2019. Wind generators supplied simply 1 p.c of the electrical energy produced within the state in 2001 and almost 60 p.c final 12 months. Over the identical interval, coal-fired era considerably declined.
In absolute phrases, the state, one of many windiest in the country, was the second-largest producer of wind energy final 12 months, after Texas. However, as Iowa’s wind capability has grown, so has native opposition to new tasks. In recent times, a lot of Iowa counties have paused the construction of new wind turbines and a few photo voltaic tasks, too.
In 1983, Iowa grew to become the primary state within the nation to move laws requiring utilities to get some quantity of electrical energy from renewable assets, however the state has not up to date these requirements since. Iowa exports a few of its energy to close by states over the regional electrical grid. (Exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Kansas, like many states throughout the Nice Plains, has seen vital progress in wind energy over the previous decade as builders put up hundreds of generators to seize the robust winds blowing throughout the open prairie. In 2019, wind surpassed coal to turn out to be Kansas’s largest supply of electrical energy era and has remained the state’s high energy producer since then.
Kansas produces extra energy than it consumes and sends a couple of quarter to different states by the regional grid. (Exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Coal nonetheless generates the vast majority of the electrical energy produced in Kentucky, a longtime coal mining state. However a lot of the state’s older, coal-fired energy crops have shut down or been transformed to burn pure fuel over the previous decade. Coal fueled 68 p.c of the facility produced within the state final 12 months, down from greater than 90 p.c throughout many of the 2000s and early 2010s.
Pure fuel has lengthy supplied the majority of electrical energy era in Louisiana, one of many high gas-producing states within the nation. However as coal era declined in recent times, fuel additional expanded its share of the state’s electrical combine. Final 12 months, fuel accounted for 76 p.c of electrical energy made within the state, up from 46 p.c in 2001. Throughout that point, coal-fired era declined, dropping from its place because the second-largest supply of energy within the state to a distant third place.
Louisiana additionally imports some electrical energy from neighboring states. (Imports will not be proven within the chart above.)
A lot of the electrical energy generated in Maine final 12 months got here from renewable sources. Collectively, hydroelectric dams, wind generators, photo voltaic arrays and biomass crops, which burn wooden and different natural supplies, produced about 69 p.c of the state’s energy.
Nonetheless, the entire quantity of energy generated in Maine, notably from pure fuel and petroleum, has declined considerably over the past 20 years. The state now imports between 10 and 30 p.c of its electrical energy every year from different close by states and Canada. (Imports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Maine has a goal of getting 100% of its electrical energy from renewable sources by 2050.
Coal produced the majority of Maryland’s energy by the early 2010s, however its function within the state’s electrical energy combine has declined considerably over the past decade. Coal fueled simply 5 p.c of electrical energy made within the state final 12 months, down from greater than 40 p.c a decade earlier (and a good higher share earlier than then). Nuclear energy grew to become the most important supply of electrical energy era in 2015 and rapidly rising pure fuel energy surpassed nuclear for the primary time final 12 months.
Whereas solar energy continues to be a small a part of the state’s era combine, it has grown quickly over the previous a number of years, beating out hydro because the state’s largest supply of renewable electrical energy. Maryland requires that fifty p.c of the electrical energy bought by utilities within the state come from renewable sources by 2030.
Maryland consumes extra energy than it generates and imports a big quantity of electrical energy from different Mid-Atlantic States by the regional grid. (Imports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Pure fuel has expanded its share of electrical energy era in Massachusetts over the previous 20 years as different sources of energy have declined. Coal-fired era petered out within the state by 2018. And petroleum, which is usually used to fulfill peak electrical energy demand in the course of the winter, now offers solely a small fraction of the facility it did 20 years in the past. The state’s solely nuclear plant, which was chargeable for between 10 and 20 p.c of the state’s electrical energy era in earlier years, shut down permanently in 2019, partly due to competitors from cheaper pure fuel.
Solely solar energy has bucked the pattern: The quantity of electrical energy created from photo voltaic power, largely by small-scale rooftop panels, has grown considerably since 2013 and now offers almost 1 / 4 of the state’s energy. Nonetheless, Massachusetts makes much less energy immediately in absolute phrases than it did 20 years in the past and now imports about half of its energy from different Northeastern states by the regional grid. (Imports will not be proven within the chart above.)
Massachusetts lawmakers have sought to encourage the adoption of extra photo voltaic and wind energy. (The state’s first offshore wind venture started producing electricity this 12 months.) The state requires utilities to get 80 percent of the electricity they sell from renewable sources by 2050.
Coal was the highest supply of electrical energy produced in Michigan for many of the final 20 years, however coal-fired era declined steadily in the course of the 2010s and 2020s as pure fuel energy expanded. After years of progress, fuel grew to become the state’s high supply of electrical energy for the primary time in 2020 and retook that high slot in 2022 and 2023. Nuclear was the second largest supply of energy produced within the state final 12 months, with coal falling to 3rd place.
Nuclear power is the state’s largest supply of emissions-free energy. It fueled 23 p.c of the electrical energy produced within the state final 12 months. Wind energy generated a further 7 p.c, and photo voltaic delivered lower than 2 p.c. Michigan lately set a goal to get 100% of its electrical energy from zero-carbon power sources by 2040.
To shore up extra emissions-free energy, Michigan now desires to reopen a nuclear plant that shut down in 2022, with assist from a $1.5 billion mortgage from the Biden administration. If the plan goes by, it might be the primary shuttered nuclear plant to reopen in the USA.
Coal was the highest supply of electrical energy produced in Minnesota for years, however its era share has declined over the past 20 years and, in 2020, coal-fired energy era dropped beneath nuclear for the primary time. Wind energy, in the meantime, grew from 2 p.c of the state’s complete era in 2001 to 25 p.c in 2023. Wind grew to become the state’s high energy producer final 12 months.
Emissions-free power sources, together with wind, photo voltaic and nuclear energy, now present greater than 50 p.c of the facility produced in Minnesota. State regulation requires electrical utilities to generate or procure 100% of their electrical energy from carbon-free sources by 2040. Minnesota additionally imports some energy from different states by the shared regional grid. (Imports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Pure fuel powered greater than three-quarters of the electrical energy generated in Mississippi final 12 months. Coal, as soon as the state’s high supply of electrical energy, has declined considerably over the previous decade as pure fuel costs have fallen. Coal supplied 36 p.c of the electrical energy produced within the state in 2001, however simply 5 p.c in 2023.
Mississippi produces extra energy than it makes use of and exports the excess to different states. (Exports will not be proven on the charts above.)
Missouri’s electrical energy era combine has been dominated by coal for greater than 20 years. Nonetheless, coal-fired energy declined to 59 p.c of all electrical energy generated within the state in 2023 from 82 p.c in 2001 as older coal crops went offline or switched to pure fuel. Fuel- and wind-powered era have made positive aspects over the previous decade, however, regardless of a dip in 2021, nuclear stays the state’s second largest supply of energy.
Missouri usually makes use of extra electrical energy than it generates in-state and pulls energy from different states by regional grids. (Electrical energy imports will not be proven on the charts above.)
Coal has been the highest supply of electrical energy produced in Montana for many of the previous 20 years, however its share of the state’s era combine has declined as wind energy has grown and older coal-fired energy crops have been retired. Hydro, lengthy the state’s second-largest supply of electrical energy, briefly surpassed coal as the highest power-producer in 2020, however hydroelectric era dropped significantly by 2023 amid drought situations.
Montanans solely use about two-thirds of the electrical energy produced within the state. A lot of the remainder is distributed to Washington and Oregon through interstate transmission traces. New transmission projects are in development that might increase how a lot Montana-generated electrical energy strikes to different states (and the opposite means round, when wanted).
Coal has been the highest supply of electrical energy produced in Nebraska for greater than 20 years, however its era share has declined in recent times as wind energy has surged. The quantity of nuclear energy produced in Nebraska additionally declined after one of many state’s two nuclear crops, Fort Calhoun, completely shut down in 2016 for financial causes.
Nebraska, like many Nice Plains states, has wonderful wind assets, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, however as extra wind generators and photo voltaic farms have been constructed, local opposition to the projects has increased. A number of Nebraska counties lately put in place moratoriums on new wind and photo voltaic tasks, and others have instituted strict necessities for the place they are often constructed.
Nebraska produces extra energy than it consumes at dwelling and sends the remainder to different states by long-distance transmission traces. (Exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Pure fuel surpassed coal as Nevada’s high supply of energy era in 2005 and has been the state’s largest electrical energy provider since. Extra lately, photo voltaic has surged to turn out to be the state’s second-largest supply of electrical energy.
Within the meantime, coal energy has continued to say no. Most of the state’s older, coal-fired energy crops have shuttered over the previous 20 years due to competition from cheaper natural gas and state laws that require renewable power improvement. Nevada’s two remaining coal crops are scheduled to be transformed to pure fuel by 2026.
Final 12 months, about 40 p.c of the facility produced within the state got here from renewable power. Massive-scale photo voltaic arrays and rooftop panels supplied 26 p.c. Geothermal crops, which harvest warmth from deep beneath the Earth’s floor, equipped a further 10 p.c. A lot of the relaxation got here from hydro. (The Hoover Dam, one of many nation’s largest hydroelectric dams, sits on Nevada’s border with Arizona, offering energy to each states.)
The speedy progress of solar energy in recent times has prompted the state to strengthen its goals for renewable energy. Nevada regulation now requires that fifty p.c of the electrical energy bought by utilities within the state come from renewable sources by 2030.
The majority of electrical energy generated in New Hampshire over the previous 20 years has come from the state’s solely nuclear reactor, Seabrook Station. Pure fuel has been the state’s second-largest supply of energy because the early 2000s, when two new producing stations went on-line. The share of electrical energy equipped by coal has declined over the previous 20 years, shrinking to about 1 p.c in 2023 from 25 p.c in 2001.
New Hampshire presently generates about 16 p.c of its electrical energy from renewable sources, principally hydro and biomass, a kind of power that comes from burning wooden and different natural matter. The state requires utilities to get 25 p.c of the facility they promote to clients from renewable sources by 2025, a goal they’ll fulfill by buying renewable power credit.
New Hampshire produces extra energy than it consumes and sends the surplus to different New England states and Canada. (Exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Nuclear was the highest supply of electrical energy era in New Jersey till 2015, when pure fuel surpassed it for the primary time. Over the previous decade, pure fuel and nuclear power have produced virtually all the state’s electrical energy, however photo voltaic has made inroads, supplying 7 p.c of energy final 12 months.
In 2018, the state’s Oyster Creek nuclear plant, the oldest within the nation on the time, closed down, partly due to competitors from cheaper pure fuel. That very same 12 months, the New Jersey Legislature approved new subsidies to maintain the state’s remaining three nuclear crops worthwhile. The governor, Philip D. Murphy, stated the crops supplied essential, emissions-free energy that might not contribute to local weather change and pointed to “the hundreds of jobs they help.”
New Jersey has a renewable energy standard that requires 35 p.c of the electrical energy bought within the state to come back from renewable sources by 2025, with that requirement rising to 50 p.c by 2030. To assist attain these targets, the state wants to build wind farms off its coast, the place there may be considerable wind power potential. However proposed tasks have stirred up fierce local opposition.
The state consumes extra energy than it produces inside its borders and imports electrical energy from close by states by the regional grid. (Imports will not be included on the chart above.)
Coal was New Mexico’s major supply of electrical energy era for many of the final 20 years. However coal-fired energy has declined because the 2000s in response to harder air high quality rules, cheaper pure fuel and California’s resolution in 2014 to cease buying electrical energy generated from coal in neighboring states. Over the previous decade, wind-powered era has surged in New Mexico, and, in 2022, wind surpassed coal as the highest supply of electrical energy produced within the state.
New Mexico has a number of the finest wind, photo voltaic and geothermal power assets within the nation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Final 12 months, the state produced greater than 46 p.c of its energy from renewable power, principally wind and photo voltaic. State regulation requires investor-owned utilities to get 50 p.c of the electrical energy they promote from renewable sources by 2030, and 100% from a broader array of carbon-free sources by 2045.
The state already exports a big quantity of electrical energy to Arizona and California, nevertheless it might quickly turn out to be a good larger energy provider. Final 12 months, officers broke ground on a major new transmission project that may ship renewable wind energy from central New Mexico to more-populated elements of the West. (Exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Pure fuel and nuclear power have fueled the vast majority of New York’s electrical energy for the previous 20 years. However fuel has expanded its function within the state’s energy combine throughout that point, whereas nuclear era declined in recent times. The state shut down its controversial Indian Point nuclear plant in 2021, inflicting nuclear era to fall and greenhouse gas emissions to rise.
Final 12 months, about 32 p.c of the facility produced in New York got here from renewable sources, principally hydro. The state turned on its first offshore wind farm on the finish of the 12 months however has struggled to get different offshore wind tasks off the bottom. The state’s ambitious climate law requires utilities to get 70 p.c of the electrical energy they promote from renewable sources by 2030 and to shift completely to carbon-free energy a decade later.
New York tends to devour extra electrical energy than it produces and presently imports energy from neighboring states and Canada. (Electrical energy imports will not be included on the chart above.)
Coal-fired energy crops supplied the vast majority of North Carolina’s electrical energy era in the course of the 2000s , however 32 of the state’s coal-burning units have retired since 2010 and coal’s share within the state electrical energy combine has dwindled. Pure fuel, in the meantime, has surged to turn out to be North Carolina’s high supply of energy, producing greater than 40 p.c of the state’s electrical energy final 12 months.
North Carolina additionally will get almost a tenth of its energy from photo voltaic. The state’s distinctive implementation of a decades-old federal mandate, the Public Utility Regulatory Insurance policies Act of 1978, helped encourage the development of utility-scale solar projects, however the progress of solar energy has slowed in recent years.
In 2021, a bipartisan invoice handed by state lawmakers required North Carolina’s largest utility, Duke Vitality, to realize a 70 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 ranges by the top of the last decade. However this 12 months, Duke Vitality asked for more time to meet that deadline and for permission to construct a fleet of latest gas-burning energy crops.
As in lots of Nice Plains states, wind energy has grown quickly in North Dakota. Final 12 months, wind generators generated 36 p.c of the state’s electrical energy, greater than twice as a lot as a decade earlier than. However coal nonetheless dominates the state’s electrical combine.
North Dakota has each substantial coal reserves and abundant wind. The state produces considerably extra electrical energy than is consumed inside its borders and sends about two-thirds to neighboring states and Canada by high-voltage transmission traces. (Exports will not be included on the chart above.)
Coal was Ohio’s principal supply of energy for a lot of the final 20 years, however a growth in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, introduced cheaper pure fuel within the 2010s and utilities shut down a number of giant coal crops. Fuel took over because the state’s high supply of electrical energy in 2019 and now fuels almost 60 p.c of the state’s energy era.
Ohio produces a further 12 p.c of its electrical energy from two nuclear crops alongside Lake Erie, which have additionally confronted stiff value competitors from fuel. In 2019, Ohio lawmakers passed a bill that gave the state’s nuclear energy crops greater than $1 billion in subsidies to remain open, bailed out two coal crops and weakened the state’s renewable electrical energy necessities. The nuclear subsidies had been repealed in 2021 amid a serious public corruption scandal, however different elements of the regulation have remained in place.
Ohio will get a small portion of its energy from renewable sources immediately: About 2 p.c from wind power and 1 p.c from photo voltaic. Multiple-fourth of Ohio counties have banned or restricted the construction of new wind or solar projects since 2021 when one other state regulation gave county officers decision-making energy over the place to find renewable power.
The vast majority of Oklahoma’s energy era has traditionally come from fossil fuels, however wind energy has surged within the state over the previous decade. Coal was the state’s high energy producer within the 2000s, however pure fuel started competing for the highest slot within the late 2000s and early 2010s and coal energy declined sharply over the subsequent decade. Wind energy has grown rapidly within the meantime, briefly turning into the state’s largest energy producer in 2022 earlier than dropping beneath fuel once more final 12 months.
Oklahoma was the third-largest producer of wind energy within the nation final 12 months, behind Texas and Iowa. The state generates extra electrical energy than it consumes and sends its additional energy to different states over the regional grid. (Exports will not be included on the chart above.)
A lot of the electrical energy produced in Oregon in any given 12 months comes from hydroelectric dams, however the precise quantity can fluctuate relying on precipitation. Energy from pure fuel usually will increase throughout drought years and reduces in years with ample rain and snow.
Over the previous decade, wind has grown to turn out to be the third-largest supply of electrical energy generated within the state. In an effort to encourage extra non-hydroelectric renewable energy, Oregon requires its giant, investor-owned utilities to get 50 percent of the electricity they sell to customers from new renewable energy sources by 2040. Different utilities are topic to decrease requirements.
In most years, Oregon exports a few of its energy to close by states. (Exports will not be included within the chart above.)
Coal was Pennsylvania’s high supply of electrical energy till 2014, however its function within the state’s energy combine has declined sharply since then as pure fuel has surged.
Fuel manufacturing from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, unleashed a flood of low-cost pure fuel in Pennsylvania beginning within the 2000s. In consequence, electrical utilities started closing down older coal crops in favor of newer gas-powered generators.
Fuel is now placing stress on the state’s nuclear crops, too. After one of many state’s nuclear energy crops, Three Mile Island, shut down in 2019, pro-nuclear teams sought state subsidies to maintain the remaining reactors open, saying that the lack of this emissions-free electrical energy is bad news for climate change. Final 12 months, nuclear fueled 32 p.c of the state’s energy era, whereas different carbon-free sources equipped lower than 4 p.c.
Pennsylvania is the nation’s third-largest producer of electrical energy, behind Texas and Florida, and the state is a serious provider of energy to the remainder of the Mid-Atlantic area. (Electrical energy exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Pure fuel dominates electrical energy era in Rhode Island, however photo voltaic power has grown rapidly in recent times. Photo voltaic equipped 12 p.c of the state’s electrical energy final 12 months, up from lower than 1 p.c in 2017.
Rhode Island tightened its renewable power commonplace in 2022 and now requires state electrical energy suppliers to get 100% of the facility they promote to shoppers from renewable sources by 2033. The state consumes extra electrical energy than it generates and imports additional energy by New England’s regional grid. (Imports will not be included on the chart above.)
The vast majority of the electrical energy generated in South Carolina has come from nuclear energy for greater than 20 years. However era from pure fuel has greater than doubled within the state over the previous decade as coal energy has declined. Fuel overtook coal in 2018 because the state’s second-largest energy producer.
In 2017, utilities in South Carolina abandoned plans to build two new nuclear reactors after main delays and billion-dollar value overruns. The state produced lower than 8 p.c of its energy from renewable sources final 12 months, principally photo voltaic and hydro.
South Carolina produces extra energy than it consumes and sends the excess to neighboring states. (Exports will not be included on the chart above.)
Hydroelectric dams equipped the majority of electrical energy era in South Dakota for a lot of the previous 20 years, however coal surpassed hydro because the state’s high energy producer throughout three years — 2001, 2004 and 2008 — and, extra lately, wind energy has taken over.
Coal’s share of the state era combine has declined considerably because the 2010s. Wind, nonetheless, has surged. Wind power has been South Dakota’s high supply of energy since 2021, supplying greater than half of the state’s electrical energy era final 12 months.
South Dakota makes rather more energy immediately than it did 20 years in the past and exports electrical energy throughout the Central and Western United States. (Exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Coal was Tennessee’s high supply of electrical energy era between 2001 and 2016, however its share of the state’s energy combine has declined considerably over the previous decade. In 2016, a brand new nuclear reactor was finally completed in Tennessee after many years of delays. In 2017, coal-powered era dipped beneath nuclear for the primary time in almost 20 years. Extra lately, rising pure fuel era has vied with coal because the state’s second largest energy producer.
Tennessee consumes extra energy than it produces and makes up the shortfall by importing electrical energy from close by states. (Imports will not be included on the chart above.)
Texas produces extra electrical energy than some other state, by a large margin, and its energy combine has lengthy been led by pure fuel. Coal-fired era within the state has declined over the previous decade as wind energy has elevated. In 2020, wind surpassed coal to turn out to be the second-largest supply of electrical energy era in Texas.
The state is, by far, the nation’s largest producer of wind energy immediately, with Iowa and Oklahoma in a distant second and third place. In recent times, solar energy has additionally surged within the state, rising from 1 p.c of the state’s electrical combine in 2019 to six p.c final 12 months.
Utilities and companies within the state have largely turned to wind and solar energy as a result of they’re so low-cost to construct, and never due to state mandates. Nonetheless, the state has cleared most of the limitations to constructing new renewable tasks and different power infrastructure, creating “an setting the place this stuff can thrive,” Dr. Lott of Columbia College stated.
However whilst energy era from renewable sources soars, in absolute phrases, Texas continues to burn extra pure fuel and extra coal than some other state.
In contrast to most different states, Texas operates its personal energy grid, which is simply minimally linked to the nation’s different regional grids. Which means Texas is basically dependent by itself assets to fulfill its electrical energy wants.
The vast majority of electrical energy produced in Utah nonetheless comes from coal, however coal’s share of the state’s energy combine has declined over the past decade as pure fuel and photo voltaic era have elevated.
Photo voltaic is the most important renewable supply of energy within the state, offering 14 p.c of Utah’s electrical energy era final 12 months. Utah has a goal for utilities to generate or procure 20 p.c of the electrical energy they promote to clients from renewable sources by 2025.
The state produces extra power than it consumes and sends the excess to close by states, like California. (Exports will not be included on the chart above.)
A minimum of one Utah energy plant is switching from burning coal to natural gas to adjust to California’s stricter environmental rules. However Utah lawmakers are taking a look at methods to keep the coal power plant running alongside the brand new fuel facility.
A lot of the electrical energy generated in Vermont got here from nuclear energy till 2014, when the state’s solely nuclear plant, Vermont Yankee, closed down. Since then, nearly all the electrical energy produced within the state has come from renewable sources, together with hydropower, biomass, wind and photo voltaic.
However Vermont now generates a lot much less electrical energy, in complete, than it did earlier than the nuclear plant shut down and has to import a considerable quantity of energy from different New England states and Canada to fulfill demand. (Imports will not be proven on the chart above.)
Vermont lately strengthened its renewable power commonplace to require that 100 percent of electricity sold in the state come from renewable sources by 2035.
Coal was the highest supply of electrical energy produced in Virginia between 2001 and 2008, however its share has declined since then. By 2015, pure fuel had turn out to be the state’s largest supply of electrical energy, a results of the nationwide growth in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which unleashed a wave of low-cost, plentiful fuel. Nuclear era has supplied just a little greater than one-third of Virginia’s electrical energy, on common, over the previous 20 years.
In 2020, Virginia’s Democratic-led Legislature passed a clean energy law that established new power effectivity requirements, set a schedule for closing previous fossil gasoline energy crops and required the state’s two greatest utilities get all of their electrical energy from carbon-free sources by 2050. However a brand new, Republican administration has pushed to revise that regulation and shift the state’s focus towards an “all of the above” energy strategy that features higher help for pure fuel energy.
The overall quantity of energy produced in Virginia has been rising, however the state can also be going through rising demand from power-hungry data centers. Dominion Vitality, the state’s largest electrical utility, has proposed meeting that demand with a mixture of new renewable energy and fuel era in a plan that might enhance the corporate’s total emissions.
Virginia presently consumes extra electrical energy than it generates and will get extra energy from two regional grids that serve the state. (Imports will not be included on the chart above.)
Washington is the nation’s largest producer of hydroelectric energy, which has dominated the state’s era combine for greater than 20 years. The quantity of energy produced by hydro fluctuates from 12 months to 12 months with modifications in precipitation, and different sources — together with pure fuel, nuclear, wind and coal — make up virtually all the relaxation.
Washington produces extra electrical energy than it consumes and exports energy to Canada and different Western states. (Exports will not be proven on the chart above.)
In 2019, the state required its electrical utilities to transition fully away from fossil fuels as a power source by 2045.
Coal nonetheless dominates West Virginia’s energy combine. It has equipped greater than 85 p.c of the electrical energy produced within the state yearly for greater than 20 years. Whereas pure fuel and wind have elevated their era share over the previous decade, they nonetheless account for a comparatively small portion of the electrical energy produced within the state.
In 2015, West Virginia grew to become the primary state to repeal its renewable energy standard after years of lobbying by conservative teams. The regulation required utilities to get 25 p.c of their electrical energy from various and renewable power sources by 2025. Opponents of the usual stated it was hurting coal jobs and elevating electrical energy charges, whereas supporters stated it might assist to diversify the state’s electrical sector at a time when the nationwide coal market was in decline.
The overall quantity of energy generated by West Virginia has declined over the previous 20 years as coal energy has been squeezed by competition from cheaper regional sources and older coal-fired energy crops have retired. However the state nonetheless generates extra electrical energy than it consumes and provides a big quantity of energy to different Mid-Atlantic States by the shared regional grid. (Exports will not be pictured within the chart above.)
Coal was lengthy Wisconsin’s high supply of electrical energy era, however, after years of speedy progress, pure fuel took over because the state’s largest energy producer in 2022. Wind and solar energy have grown rapidly within the state in recent times, however each sources stay comparatively small gamers in Wisconsin’s electrical energy combine.
In 2019, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, set a purpose for the state to shift to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050 and created a brand new state workplace to guide the transition. However the proposal has confronted opposition from the Republican-led Legislature.
Wisconsin makes use of extra electrical energy than it generates in-state, so it imports extra energy from the regional electrical grid. (Imports will not be proven on the chart above.)
The overwhelming majority of electrical energy generated in Wyoming nonetheless comes from coal, however wind energy has made inroads over the previous decade. Final 12 months, wind equipped greater than a fifth of the electrical energy produced within the state.
Wyoming has been the nation’s high coal-producing state for many years and the state can also be home to “some of the greatest wind resources in the nation,” in line with the U.S. Vitality Data Administration.
Due to its small inhabitants, Wyoming produces rather more energy than it consumes and sends about 60 p.c out of state. A number of major transmission line projects are presently in improvement to maneuver extra of Wyoming’s plentiful wind energy to different Western states. (Exports will not be pictured within the chart above.)