Solar and wind power for the first time accounted for 10 percent of a month’s electricity generated in the U.S., according to a new report that also shows Colorado deriving nearly one-quarter of its electricity from those renewable sources.
That’s according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report released this week that shows roughly 24 percent of all March electricity production in Colorado came from wind and solar. That pushes the state closer to its long-term goals involving electricity derived from renewables and coming despite efforts by President Trump’s administration to boost coal production.
The percentage of Colorado’s electricity from solar and wind in March was also well above the roughly 18 percent the state saw for all of last year, which officials say could be attributed, in part, to the month’s strong winds.
The Colorado Energy Office also reports that coal and natural gas generation levels have been down since January, though the office cautions that seasonable energy use could account for those changes.
Colorado’s efforts to increasingly rely on renewable energy sources have been “ahead of the curve,” said Christopher Worley, director of policy and research at the Colorado Energy Office.
Only seven states — Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, California and Texas — had a bigger share of electricity generated by renewables in 2016.
“Colorado has a renewable energy standard, whereas not all states have that,” said Worley. “Many states do — I think if you take a look its about 30 states and the District of Columbia — but not all of them are as high as ours.”
The legislature has mandated that 30 percent of Colorado’s electricity from investor-owned utilities must come from renewable sources by 2020. For utility cooperatives, the goal is 20 percent, and for large municipal utilities, 10 percent.
“Generally speaking, all of the utilities are on track to meet their targets,” Worley said. “We’ve been adding more and more renewables year over year for quite some time — since the renewable energy standard was passed in 2004.”
Xcel Energy, the state’s largest utility, has said it expects to exceed the state-mandated goals and that, by 2020, wind will produce 28 percent of its electricity production; solar will account for another 7 percent.
The EIA says on an annual basis, wind and solar make up about 7 percent of the nation’s total electricity generation. In 2015, 14 percent of Colorado’s electricity was produced by wind.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, called the nation’s 10 percent milestone an “important record for clean energy and (the) future of (the) U.S. economy.”
Important record for #cleanenergy & future of US economy. Good to know CO is helping lead the way as #1 wind manufacturer in the country. https://t.co/jRQ0KbdMz7
— Michael Bennet (@SenatorBennet) June 16, 2017
U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, has introduced legislation in the U.S. House requiring the nation to “develop an all-of-the-above approach to meet the projected energy demand of the United States over the next 30 years,” including renewables and oil, natural gas and coal.
In 2016, according to the state energy office, coal accounted for about 55 percent of Colorado’s electricity generation, while natural gas was roughly 23 percent.
