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Even without rooftop solar, USA’s renewable energy uptake is remarkable

Renewable Energy: 100% of New US Generating Capacity in January With 287 megawatts of solar leading the way, renewables accounted for virtually all of the new utility-scale generating capacity installed in the United States in January. Earthtechling, Pete Danko  February 27, 2014 Renewable energy made up nearly 100 percent of the new generating capacity installed in the United States in January, according to a new government report.

The monthly Energy Infrastructure Update from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shows 325 megawatts of new generation going into service in January. The breakdown is 287 megawatts of solar, 30 megawatts of geothermal steam, 4 megawatts of wind, 3 megawatts of biomass, and 1 megawatt of “other” (PDF). Don’t know what that “other” was, but it wasn’t natural gas, coal or oil, so we’re calling this an all-renewables month.

Most of the new solar power came in the form of a few big projects in the Southwest, but North Carolina was active (again), too. Here’s the full roster of projects highlighted in the FERC update:……..

……..As always, too, we note that the FERC data includes only utility-scale development, leaving out rooftop solar on homes and businesses, a sector that these days is averaging over 100 megawatts of new capacity every month. http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/renewable-energy-100-of-new-u.s.-generating-capacity-in-january

March 1, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized