Renewable energy is growing faster than many experts expected, leading an increasing number of state and local governments to commit to 100% clean energy goals, Governing reports.
Three years after Hawaii became the first state to establish a goal of 100% renewable electricity sources by 2045, California has followed suit.
According to a report this spring by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the U.S. is moving toward renewable energy faster than many experts anticipated. In January, for instance, the Energy Information Administration announced that almost half of the utility-scale power generation capacity installed last year involved renewable energy. It also predicted that wind power will surpass hydroelectric power this year as the nation’s largest source of renewable energy.
Already, renewable sources are responsible for providing more than 17% of U.S. electricity—that’s almost the amount of power produced by the country’s nuclear power plants.
The Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 Campaign tracks the number of entities committing to 100 percent clean energy. In all, a total of approximately 48.7 million Americans are covered by these commitments, accounting for roughly 15% of the population in 2017. California alone accounts for about 39.5 million people.
