Renewable Energy Milestone: California Leads In The Renewables Record, Gets Over 67% Of Its Energy From Renewables

First Posted: May 22, 2017 05:01 AM EDT

The United States is making a milestone in renewables energy and California leads the way. The state just broke another renewable record on May 13, 2017. It gets more than 67 percent of its energy from renewables.

This was managed by California Independent System Operator (CISO) and it was the largest grid. Furthermore, there was a total of 80.7 percent when the hydropower facilities in the mix were added. So, about 80 percent of California's power grid is controlled by the CISO.

Steven Greenlee, the CISO spokesperson, said that it is going to be a dynamic year for records. He further said that the solar records in particular are falling like dominoes.

Meanwhile, Sachu Constantine, the director of policy of the Center for Sustainable Energy, explained that the grid can handle 67 percent renewable power from many sources. She added that it is a great moment and displays potential they have.

The renewable energy in the United States has its major milestone in the first quarter of 2011. This was the period when it contributed about 11.7 percent of total U.S. energy production with about 2.245 quadrillions BTU of energy. This has surpassed energy production from the nuclear power with about 2.125 quadrillions BTU.

The biggest producer of renewable power in the U.S. is the hydroelectric power. It generated about 6.14 percent of the total electricity of the country in 2015. This was about 45.71 percent of the total renewables power in the United States. This makes the country the fourth largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world. Among the top three largest producers are Brazil, Canada and China.

Some states and cities are also leading in generating renewables. These include Atlanta that will run 100 percent renewables by 2035. Chicago will also empower all its city building with renewables by 2025. Other cities and states that are empowered and will be powered by renewables are Las Vegas, Nevada, Massachusetts and Hawaii, according to Futurism.