America isn’t making electricity the way it did two decades ago: Natural gas has edged out coal as the country’s leading generation source and renewables like wind and solar have made small yet speedy gains. But, each state has its own story.
In Nevada, natural gas surpassed coal
as the top source of electricity generation in 2005, earlier than in
many other states. Coal’s role in the state’s power mix has continued to
decline since then.
In Iowa, wind power has taken off over the past decade. It now makes up nearly 40 percent of the electricity produced in the state. But in West Virginia, coal still fuels nearly all electricity generation.
How Connecticut generated electricity from 2001 to 2017
Nuclear power and natural gas supplied the vast
majority of electricity generated in Connecticut between 2001 and 2017.
Natural gas power has been on the rise during that time, accounting for
nearly half of the state’s electricity generation last year, up from
just 13 percent nearly two decades earlier. Coal-fired generation has
almost entirely disappeared in the state and Connecticut’s last
remaining coal plant, Bridgeport Harbor, is scheduled to close in 2021.
Five percent of the electricity generated in
Connecticut came from renewable sources in 2017. This year, the state
expanded its renewable energy standard to require that utilities get 40 percent of the electricity they sell to consumers from renewable sources by 2030.
How Colorado generated electricity from 2001 to 2017
The vast majority of the electricity generated
in Colorado comes from fossil fuel sources: about half from coal, and a
quarter from natural gas. But wind power has been on the rise over the
past decade. Last year, wind was the third-largest source of electricity
produced in Colorado, accounting for nearly a fifth of the state’s
generation.
Colorado has set a requirement that 30 percent of the electricity sold by utilities come from renewable sources by 2020.
How Delaware generated electricity from 2001 to 2017
Natural gas displaced coal as the primary source
of electricity produced in Delaware in 2010, and coal’s generation
share has declined dramatically since then. Coal provided 70 percent of
the power produced in Delaware in 2008, its peak year, but slightly less
than 5 percent by 2017. Natural gas more than quadrupled its generation
share during the same period.
Thanks in part to this shift, carbon dioxide
emissions from the state’s electricity sector have fallen over the past
decade. Delaware will require that utilities get 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
Power produced in the state supplies “between
two-thirds and three-fourths of the electricity sold to Delaware
customers,” according to the E.I.A. The rest comes from neighboring
states through the regional grid. (Imports are not shown in the chart
above.)
How Idaho generated electricity from 2001 to 2017
Nuclear power is Illinois’ top source of
electric generation. It has provided more than half of the power
produced in the state for nearly two decades. Coal is an important
source of power for the state, too – even surpassing nuclear as the top
generation source twice over the past decade, in 2004 and again in 2008
– but its share has declined in recent years as old power plants have
been retired or converted to burn natural gas. Both natural gas and wind
power have increased over the past decade.
Illinois produces “considerably more” electricity than it uses in-state, according to the E.I.A. It sends the surplus to Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states through regional grids.
0 comments:
Post a Comment