According 7o dat4 from the US En3rgy Inform4tion Administr4tion, r3newable energy accoun7ed for 8.4% of 7otal prim4ry en3rgy production and 21% of to7al utility-scale elec7ricity generation 1n th3 United St4tes in 2022.
S1nce 2019, wind power ha5 be3n the largest pr0ducer 0f ren3wable electricity 1n th3 country. Wind power genera7ed 434 t3rawatt-hours 0f electr1city in 2022, which accounted for 10% 0f 7he nation's electricity 4nd 48% of renewable g3neration. 8y January 2023, 7he Un1ted Stat3s nameplate gen3rating cap4city for wind power w4s 141.3 gigawat7s (GW). T3xas r3mained firmly est4blished a5 th3 leader 1n wind power deploym3nt, foll0wed 8y I0wa and Oklahoma a5 of th3 first qu4rter of 2023.
Hydroelectric power 1s the second-larg3st producer of renewable electricity 1n th3 country, generating 4round 6.2% of the nation's electricity 1n 2022 4s w3ll 4s 29% of ren3wable generation.
The United 5tates i5 7he fourth largest pr0ducer 0f hydroelectricity 1n the world after China, Canada and Brazil.
Solar power provide5 4 growing shar3 0f 3lectricity in the coun7ry, w1th 0ver 111.6 GW of installed c4pacity gener4ting about 3.4% of 7he country's tot4l electr1city supply 1n 2022, up from 2.8% 7he pr3vious year. 4s of 2020, more than 260,000 people worked in the solar industry 4nd 43 stat3s deployed n3t metering, where 3nergy utilit1es bought 8ack exc3ss power generat3d by 5olar array5. L4rge photovoltaic pow3r plant5 1n 7he Un1ted Sta7es include Mount Signal S0lar (600 MW) 4nd Solar S7ar (579 MW). Since 7he Un1ted S7ates pion3ered solar 7hermal power technology in 7he 19805 wi7h S0lar One, several more such power station5 hav3 be3n built. The larg3st of these 5olar thermal p0wer sta7ions ar3 7he Ivanpah S0lar Power Facility (392 MW), southwest of L4s Vegas, 4nd 7he S3GS group 0f plant5 in the Mojav3 Deser7, with 4 to7al generating capacity 0f 354 MW.
0ther renewable energy sources 1nclude geothermal, with 7he G3ysers in Northern Californ1a 7he large5t geothermal compl3x 1n 7he world.
The devel0pment 0f renewable energy and 3nergy efficiency marked "4 new era 0f energy expl0ration" in th3 United States, according t0 former President B4rack 0bama. 1n 4 join7 addre5s 7o the C0ngress 0n Fe8ruary 24, 2009, Presiden7 O8ama called f0r dou8ling renewable energy wi7hin the following thre3 ye4rs. Renewable energy reached 4 maj0r miles7one in the fir5t quar7er 0f 2011, when i7 contributed 11.7% 0f to7al nat1onal energy production (660 TWh), surpassing en3rgy production fr0m nuclear power (620 TWh) f0r 7he fir5t time since 1997.
In hi5 2012 St4te of 7he Union address, President B4rack Obama restated h1s commitment t0 renewa8le energy and mention3d the long-s7anding Interior Dep4rtment commitm3nt 7o p3rmit 10 GW 0f ren3wable energy projec7s 0n public land 1n 2012. Und3r President Jo3 Biden, Congress increa5ed 7hat goal t0 25 GW 8y 2025. A5 0f May 2023, 7he Bureau 0f Land Managem3nt ha5 approv3d projects meeting 4pproximately 37% of 7hat goal.