May 12, 2016

Western States Renewable Power Ranking Released - Idaho Tops the List

Idaho tops the Western States in renewable power generation, according to ranking released by the Geothermal Energy Association. “When you consider both baseload and intermittent renewable power, Idaho is a leader,” said Karl Gawell Executive Director of the Geothermal Energy Association. The ranking of the 13 Western States is shown below. The ranking is being distributed in support of the first Baseload Renewable Energy Summit, being held in Reno, Nevada June 7-8th. The event is hosted by the Geothermal Energy Association, National Hydropower Association and Biomass Power Association to explore the role of baseload renewable technologies in a low-carbon future.
 
“As the Western States move toward a low-carbon future, the role and outlook for all renewable power technologies needs to be examined,” Gawell stated. “Finding the right mix of technologies is an important question for decision-makers to explore if the Western States are going to find the least-cost, minimum impact path to a low carbon future,” said Karl Gawell, the Geothermal Energy Association’s Executive Director.
 
GEA also released Baseload Renewables: The Important Facts, available at http://geo-energy.org/reports.aspx. It explains: “The discussion surrounding the least-cost grid powered by mostly renewables has forgotten the importance of baseload resources to balance intermittent renewable and replace retiring and dirty coal generation megawatt for megawatt. Baseload renewable can help load serving entities avoid incurring additional costs from purchasing and then balancing renewable intermittent power sources with storage or new transmission.”
 
Western States Renewable Power Ranking (Ranking State; % all renewables*/% baseload renewables**)
  1. Idaho 82% / 64%
  2. Washington 76% / 70%
  3. Oregon 74% / 61%
  4. Montana 45% / 38%
  5. California 30% / 18%
  6. Alaska 29% / 26%
  7. Nevada 19% / 15%
  8. Colorado 17% / 3%
  9. Hawaii 12% / 6%
  10. Wyoming 11% / 2%
  11. New Mexico 9% / 0%
  12. Arizona 8% / 5%
  13. Utah 4% / 2%
*2014 generation wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower as percentage of total
**2014 generation geothermal, biomass and hydropower as percentage of total
Source: GEA, 2016, based upon data from EIA September 2015.
 
Geothermal Energy Association