Renewable Energy: 100% of Electric Capacity in January 2013

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released their Energy Infrastructure Update for January 2013. This report contained encouraging statistics regarding renewable energy for the first month of 2013: ALL of the new generating capacity added within the U.S. in January 2013 was renewable.

Image courtesy of Philip Bump, Grist.org

The graphs above helps to visualize these findings. In 2012, 74% of the electric capacity added in the U.S. was from coal or natural gas. This year, 2013, saw exactly 0% electric capacity added in the U.S. from coal or natural gas. Wind, solar, and biomass made up 100% of the new power generation for January 2013.  While the total installed capacity decreased from the same month in 2012 (1,231MW in Jan. 2013 vs. 1,693MW in Jan. 2012), it is clear that the current trend in new power production it towards sustainable, renewable resources that will continue to generate electricity long after the fossil fuel options have been expended. While solar PV only accounts for 0.38% of the total generating capacity throughout the U.S., there is enormous potential for growth and those of us at Green State Power see a very bright future for renewable energy generation in the months and years to come.

Read the full FERC Report here.