Renewables Over 13% of US Electricity Production Jan–Oct 2014

Electricity generation across the whole US doesn’t change a ton from month to month, but the seasons and slow changes in power capacity do bring some shifts.

For example, electricity generation from renewable energy sources rose from 10.5% in September to 12.7% in October, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

For January through October, renewables were up to 13%, compared to 12% for the same period in 2013. It’s nice to see growth, but it’s clear that we need much bigger renewable energy growth than this, and fast.

However, there is one important thing to note about these numbers: they may not be correct. As Bob Wallace informed me while I was working on this article, historical data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows solar electricity generation being about three times greater than what EIA showed for the same periods. If that held true when it comes to more recent data, solar and renewables as a whole obviously would have accounted for a greater portion of US electricity production in October, the first 10 months of 2014, and the same period in 2013. Still, it’s such a small percentage that it wouldn’t make a dramatic effect. The new percentages for renewables would be 13.5% (October), 13.7% (Jan–Oct 2014), 12.3% (Jan–Oct 2013). Solar PV would be up to 1.4%, 1.2%, and 0.6%.

For a look at the details (using the EIA numbers), here are several charts and tables:

See previous US Electricity Generation Reports here.

See previous US Electricity Capacity Reports here, and see our most recent US Electricity Capacity Report: Wind & Solar = 77% Of New US Electricity Generating Capacity In November (Exclusive)

Data Source: EIA