State Rankings by Total Renewable Energy Generation
NREL's State of the States 2009 analysis ranks the states according to the total in-state renewable energy generation for 2007. The dataset, taken from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), includes generation from biomass, hydroelectric, geothermal electricity, nondistributed solar, and wind. The EIA doesn't collect distributed solar data.
Top Ten States
Top ten state rankings include those by total renewable energy generation in megawatt hours (MWh), as a percent of total state electricity generation, and per capita and gross state product.
Renewable Energy by Megawatt-Hours Electricity Generated
| Rank |
State |
MWh |
| 1 | Washington | 82,559,749 |
| 2 | California | 52,173,008 |
| 3 | Oregon | 35,815,731 |
| 4 | New York | 28,027,638 |
| 5 | Texas | 11,932,049 |
| 6 | Montana | 9,971,057 |
| 7 | Idaho | 9,674,539 |
| 8 | Maine | 7,945,148 |
| 9 | Alabama | 7,936,734 |
| 10 | Arizona | 6,639,310 |
Renewable Energy Generated as Percentage of Total State Electricity Generation
| Rank |
State |
% of Total |
| 1 | Idaho | 84.2% |
| 2 | Washington | 77.2% |
| 3 | Oregon | 65.0% |
| 4 | South Dakota | 50.0% |
| 5 | Maine | 49.3% |
| 6 | Montana | 34.5% |
| 7 | California | 24.7% |
| 8 | New York | 19.2% |
| 9 | Alaska | 19.1% |
| 10 | Vermont | 19.1% |
Renewable Electricity Generation Per Capita
| Rank |
State |
MWh/Capita |
| 1 | Washington | 12.8 |
| 2 | Montana | 10.4 |
| 3 | Oregon | 9.6 |
| 4 | Idaho | 6.5 |
| 5 | Maine | 6.0 |
| 6 | South Dakota | 3.9 |
| 7 | North Dakota | 3.0 |
| 8 | Wyoming | 2.8 |
| 9 | Alaska | 1.9 |
| 10 | New Hampshire | 1.8 |
Renewable Electricity Generation Per Gross State Product
| Rank |
State |
MWh/$M |
| 1 | Montana | 291.1 |
| 2 | Washington | 265.2 |
| 3 | Oregon | 226.4 |
| 4 | Idaho | 189.1 |
| 5 | Maine | 165.2 |
| 6 | South Dakota | 90.4 |
| 7 | North Dakota | 70.0 |
| 8 | Arkansas | 51.0 |
| 9 | Alabama | 47.9 |
| 10 | Wyoming | 47.1 |
