Renewable Energy Overtakes Coal for First Time

Renewable energy production overtook coal for the first time in 2024, reports Carl Smith in Governing, with Texas leading the way with its massive wind generation farms. 

“Over the past 10 years, only natural gas and renewable generation use have increased. While the share from natural gas remains larger, the pace of growth in renewables is much greater,” Smith explains. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), wind and solar accounted for nearly 27 percent of electricity generation last year.

Texas’s success is in large part due to its renewable energy portfolio standard, which was adopted in 1999 and sets targets for renewable energy capacity by utilities. “After California, the remaining states in the top-five producers were Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas. Iowa was the first state to establish a renewable portfolio standard, in 1983.”

Iowa generated 65 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, and 12 states generate one-third or more of their power via renewable sources. “According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the country has enough wind, solar, hydropower and other renewable resources to generate 100 times the annual power needs of Americans.”