Vermont, which boasted the third-cleanest grid, according to the data, sourced over half its energy from hydropower and 19 percent from wind in 2022. Legislators recently passed a law that requires the state’s utilities to reach 100 percent renewable electricity by 2035.
The state with the dirtiest grid, Delaware, still relies heavily on fossil gas and gets only a fraction of its power from wind and solar. It has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030, and legislators recently passed a bill that directs the state’s energy office to procure 1.2 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.
For other states, like West Virginia and Wyoming, coal still has a stronghold. In West Virginia, coal provided more than 89 percent of the state’s energy; clean energy is nearly nonexistent.
While the country overall still has a long way to go, it’s worth noting that when a clean energy project gets built in a state with a dirtier grid, the impact is far greater. Building a new solar plant in eastern Kentucky, for example, would reduce emissions by 62 percent more than building that plant in Los Angeles, as a report from Clearloop and WattTime details.
And wouldn’t you know, several of those states — including Wyoming and West Virginia — are presently taking steps to build what would be their largest solar installations by far.