Last year, America generated enough electricity from wind and solar to power more than 70 million homes. That鈥檚 more than triple the amount produced a decade ago, , a policy-neutral nonprofit.
In New Mexico, 50% of the state鈥檚 electricity now comes from wind and solar, which ranks fourth in the country. Sixth-ranked Colorado isn鈥檛 far behind at 40%.
Nevada gets nearly one-third (32%) of its energy from wind and solar. Those renewable sources make up around one-quarter of the power in Wyoming (24%), Idaho (23%), and Montana (22%), and account for under one-fifth in Utah (19%) and Arizona (15%).
鈥淭here's a lot of appeal of these resources that we can capture very easily,鈥� said Jen Brady, a senior data analyst at Climate Central. 鈥淭here are people looking to it to help with problems with the grid, with storms.鈥�
Brady said power outages caused by extreme storms are only going to increase due to climate change. That鈥檚 why, she added, producing more renewable energy is crucial as America鈥檚 demand for electricity surges.
All told, the nation鈥檚 electricity demand could swell by up to 50% by 2040, according to a by S&P Global Commodity Insights. That growth is projected to be driven by tech companies building more data centers and Americans driving more electric vehicles.
鈥淚t's good for the world,鈥� Brady emphasized. 鈥淚t's good for the planet to be using wind and solar energy and other renewable sources because they aren't derived from fossil fuels, and so they aren't contributing to climate change.鈥�
But the Trump administration is working to expand the production of fossil fuels. It issued orders to development on public lands, and for oil and gas drilling.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, 糖心vlog传媒 in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the .