The State of U.S. Renewable Power

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HYDROELECTRIC

The U.S. is the world's leading producer of hydroelectric power. Hydropower currently provides 92,000 megawatts of electricity generating capacity in the U.S.-- enough to meet the needs of 28 million households. This represents about 10% of the nation's total electricity generation capacity and accounts for almost 50% of all renewable energy used in the U.S. These percentages are unlikely to increase. There are few good sites left to build new large dams, and there is widespread opposition on environmental grounds to the building of new dams.

The nation's largest hydropower plant is the 7,600-megawatt Grand Coulee power station located on the Columbia River in Washington state. The plant is being scaled up to 10,080 megawatts, which will place it second in the world behind a colossal 13,320-megawatt plant in Brazil.

BIOMASS

U.S. utilities use biomass to generate more than 7,500 megawatts of electricity.

This is enough power to meet the energy needs of several million households. Today, various forms of biomass energy account for nearly 4% of all energy consumed, and 45% of renewable energy used, in the United States. Biomass currently supplies 2% of the electricity used in California. It is more expensive than other sources of electricity, principally because it is costly to transport fuel from its source to the incinerator.

--From Utility Guide: The Information Network for Utility Users ( http//www.utilityguide.com/index.html).

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