In the US: Solar and Hydro Still Lead the West for Renewables, ACORE Finds

Solar and Hydro Still Lead the West for Renewables, ACORE Finds

The 12 states in the western United States are the nation’s goldmine for green energy, creating two-thirds of the country’s solar power, according to the latest regional report from ACORE.

Those 12 states are not created equal, of course — not from an economic, demographic or environmental standpoint. Ranging from Alaska to Wyoming and Utah, and including the green leaders of Washington, Oregon and California, the ACORE Western Region serves as an illustration of how the clean energy economy can evolve from nonexistent to the backbone of the nation.

Two technologies offer the bulk of renewable energy: solar PV and hydroelectric. Hydroelectric, generated by damming rivers, is the old-school renewable energy source, whereas solar is the future.

Across the West, hydroelectric power generates 25 percent of the region’s electricity, compared to 7 percent in the rest of the country. “Other renewables” — which for ACORE include solar, wind, biomass, biofuels and so on — make up 9 percent in the West and 6 percent in the rest of the country.

But as the ACORE report notes, solar is going to take up an ever-bigger share of the electricity pie in the West: “The region benefits from some of the best solar resources in the world, responsible for roughly 68 percent of that nation’s solar photovoltaic capacity and 91 percent of the nation’s solar thermal electric capacity.” That shows continuing growth on both counts over the 2013 report from ACORE.

This growth is not just because of the sun-drenched Southwestern states — ACORE notes that “well-designed state policies have been instrumental in attracting renewable energy companies from around the world to deploy renewable energy in the region for power, heating, and transportation.”

And the results are showing: Six states in the region can now claim 20 percent of their electricity is generated by renewables, and in 2013 alone the region added 4 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable capacity.

Unfortunately, that growth is in question as a result of political wrangling and efforts by utilities to rein in solar incentives. As we’ve seen throughout the past two years, across the U.S. at the state and regional level, utilities are trying to pass fees that slow or kill the solar boom. ACORE notes that this has had the desired effect: “Arizona’s recently imposed charge to net-metered systems has already resulted in a decline of new residential solar in 2014.”

Leaving aside the question about how long utilities will get to play politics with renewable energy, the ACORE report shows the wide distance between states in the West. California, which boasts almost 5.2 GW of solar capacity (and 10 GW of hydroelectric), and Idaho, Oregon and Washington — which rely on hydroelectric for 73 percent, 65 percent and 77 percent of their power respectively — mark the leading edge of energy evolution in the West. On the other end of the spectrum are the states that have done little to harness their solar potential. The sunny states of New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming have only dabbled in solar power — or any other renewable, for that matter.

Of these three latecoming states, New Mexico is the only one to have passed a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which requires utilities in the state to get 20 percent of their energy from renewables by 2020. The state’s leaders have also passed incentives for homeowners and businesses to adopt renewables, though with just 1.1 GW of renewable capacity, the state is far behind even its politically challenged neighbor to the west, Arizona.

Despite the lack of an RPS, Wyoming has taken advantage of its wind potential to some extent, exporting some of its 1.6 GW of wind capacity to neighboring states. Utah, on the other hand, despite a broad menu of renewable options — the state has high potential for solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower — the state has only created 691 megawatts of renewable capacity to date.

This report is the latest in ACORE’s ongoing Renewable Energy in the 50 States series; which is continually updated. You can read our coverage of past reports at the following links: Northeast US, 2014; Southeast US, 2014; and Midwest US, 2013; and Western U.S., 2013.