Renewable Energy Covering 10% of U.S. Needs

Wind farms and solar panels that dot the map of rural America now account for more than 10% of U.S. power generation. Bloomberg News reports wind farms in Texas, Oklahoma and elsewhere accounted for 8% of electric generation, while residential and commercial solar installations provided about 2%.  The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that during 2016, wind and solar accounted for about 7% of power generation in the U.S.  The record set in March comes after developers added a record 22.2 gigawatts of wind and solar in 2016.

However, clean energy is seasonal, as solar power flourishes in the summer when the days are longer, and wind energy thrives in the spring and summer as wind speeds increase. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects the total clean energy output to fall back below the 10 percent level later this summer.

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