Renewable Energy Accounts for 13% of U.S. Electricity by April 2009
Renewable sources of energy are beginning to replace coal power in the U.S.:
Every year the percentage of U.S. electricity generated from renewables has been increasing, according to the latest figures released by the Energy Information Administration in its Electric Power Monthly report.
As a result, by April of 2009, the total was 12.97 percent, with hydropower accounting for 8.73 percent and other renewables like solar and wind 4.24 percent of all U.S. electricity on average among all the states. Higher wind generation totals in just 4 states accounted for 62.2 percent of the national increase in wind powered generation: Texas, Iowa, New York, and Indiana.
By contrast the percentage of electricity from fossil power is now actually decreasing.
Comparing April 2008 to April 2009, coal-fired generation fell by 20,551 thousand megawatt-hours, or 13.9 percent. Declines in 7 states accounted for 52.3 percent of the national decrease in coal-fired generation: they were Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Texas.
