April 26, 2021
As the world reels from the financial blow of COVID-19, local governments in the United States are under huge pressure as cities and counties face severe budget shortfalls. This is forcing cuts to crucial spending on education and infrastructure as well as layoffs, furloughs and hiring freezes. Losing critical funds could have seriously hindered U.S. local governments’ continued progress on renewable energy.
Despite the immense obstacles, U.S. local governments bought more renewable energy in 2020 than ever before, according to new data from the Local Government Renewables Action Tracker. Nearly 100 cities and counties across 33 states completed 143 deals, adding 3,683 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity. This is a 23 percent increase from 2019 and represents enough energy to power 811,000 households annually.
Dive Brief:
Ninety-five local governments across 33 states procured 3,638 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy generation capacity in 2020 through 143 deals, the largest amount of capacity ever added in one year, according to the latest update from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and World Resources Institute (WRI) in their Local Government Renewables Action Tracker.
The 143 transactions, a 23% increase over 2019’s levels, could generate enough electricity to power approximately 812,000 households annually, the organizations reported. Solar was the most popular renewable energy to be procured, at 79% of all deals, followed by wind at 17% and geothermal at 4%.
The newly shared data also show the average size of those deals increased from 14 MW in 2015 to 26 MW in 2020. Those figures included some notable city-level deals: Houston s agreement to purchase around 492 MW of off-site solar, which is the largest solar procurement and largest renewable energy deal ever signed by
The Power County Wind Farm in Idaho. Photo by the U.S. Department of Energy/Flickr
As the world reels from the financial blow of COVID-19, local governments in the United States are under huge pressure as cities and counties face severe budget shortfalls. This is forcing cuts to crucial spending on education and infrastructure as well as layoffs, furloughs and hiring freezes. Losing critical funds could have seriously hindered U.S. local governments’ continued progress on renewable energy.
Despite the immense obstacles, U.S. local governments bought more renewable energy in 2020 than ever before, according to new data from the Local Government Renewables Action Tracker. Nearly 100 cities and counties across 33 states completed 143 deals, adding 3,683 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity. This is a 23% increase from 2019 and represents enough energy to power 811,000 households annually.
U S Cities Bought More Renewable Energy Than Ever in 2020 Here s How thecityfix.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thecityfix.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.