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Which States Use the Most Renewable Energy… And How They Made it Happen

August 17, 2009 By Susan Kraemer 11 Comments

Which oil-rich state makes the most wind power in America?

Texas. To the surprise of the local oil industry, Texas is now good for 8,000 MW of pure power from wind. Texas has more than met its Renewable Portfolio Standard that required Texas utilities to get 3% of their power from renewables by 2009 that then-Governor George Bush signed into law in 1999, while preparing to run against Al Gore for president. Or perhaps the idea was to restrict it to 3%? You get what you ask for, I guess.

But, once Texans got into wind they surpassed their RPS requirement. Texas now makes 5% of their electricity from wind, and the state of Texas now makes more wind power than any nation behind comparably sized Germany with 22,000 MW, (which also meets only 3% of Germany’s needs.)

Image: Flikr user frogdog

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Filed Under: Clean Energy, Climate Change, Energy Policy & Politics Tagged With: 57 percent renewable, Alameda Municipal Power, Alameda Municipal Power 57% renewable, Alameda Power & Telecom, biomass, California 13 percent renewable, climate bill, electranet, feed-in tariff, George Bush RPS Texas, geothermal, H.R. 2454, Iowa 15% wind, Maine 30 percent renewable, Renewable Portfolio Standard, solar, Spain Germany FIT, states renewable energy policy, Texas 8000 MW wind

About Susan Kraemer

Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, Earthtechling, and GreenProphet and has been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow and Scientific American.

As a former serial entrepreneur in product design she brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention: solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times.

Follow Susan @dotcommodity on twitter.

http://Web Christian Strong

With fossil fuels becoming more and more scarce, both solar and wind energy should concurrently become more and more prevalent not only within this country, but worldwide. As a native Iowan, I am very proud to discover that my home state is leading the way when it comes to this form of alternative energy.
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JoJo

These Iowa turbines are really cool. I drive by them about 6 times a year and its pretty awe inspiring. They are right next to the interstate between Omaha and Des Moines and are freaking HUGE! They are out there away from the cities and don’t bother anyone but they look surreal at dusk.
JoJo

These Iowa turbines are really cool. I drive by them about 6 times a year and its pretty awe inspiring. They are right next to the interstate between Omaha and Des Moines and are freaking HUGE! They are out there away from the cities and don’t bother anyone but they look surreal at dusk.
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