Red states leading the US in solar and wind production, new report shows

National wind and solar capacity grew 16% compared to 2021. All told, renewables generated enough electricity to power 64m American households. The report comes as the Biden administration starts to make billions of dollars available for renewable energy projects. The administration has committed to decarbonizing the grid completely by 2030 and getting the US to net zero emissions by mid-century.

There are several reasons why wind energy has grown by leaps in Texas. The state has been proactive in building out transmission lines to bring wind power to businesses and homes, which means future wind farms can easily connect to this grid. These investments allow the state to take advantage of its natural renewable resources.

Laws deregulating the energy market in Texas have also been conducive to leasing land for wind turbines; only 2% of the land in Texas is regulated by the federal government.

In the past five years, the share of wind energy more than doubled from 15% to 34%. Over that same time, gas production has fallen from 49% to 34%.

Elsewhere, state and federal incentives were a major driver for the year-over-year growth in renewable energy generation. In 2018, California mandated that most new single-family and multi-family homes up to three stories must include rooftop solar panels starting in 2020. In 2005, Iowa enacted the highest state tax credit rate for energy generated from wind, at $0.015 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). It is also the only state where the credits are transferable, meaning that tax credit recipients may sell the credit to third parties who can then use the purchased credit to offset their own Iowa taxes.

Experts agree that the biggest step to increase wind and solar capacity is building more transmission lines.

As of 2021, there were over 8,100 projects across the US seeking approval to connect to the grid that already operates at capacity. More than 90% of these energy projects in the queue to be connected to the grid are for wind, solar and battery storage. While the Inflation Reduction Act includes $2bn dollars for transmission facility financing, the backlog of wind and solar projects is delaying the switch to renewables that is urgently needed. Some states and local municipalities are implementing microgrids to protect against regional grid outages that have occurred with increasing frequency due to weather disasters and ageing infrastructure.