Renewable Energy Fact Sheet

This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute provides an overview of hydropower technology, its economic and environmental benefits, and the challenges associated with its implementation and operation in the United States.

• Hydropower is a significant source of electricity globally and in the United States, providing 20 percent of the world's electricity and 7-9 percent of US electricity. In the US, hydropower accounts for nearly 80 percent of all renewable energy used.
• The United States has a current hydroelectric capacity of approximately 80,000 megawatts (MW). According to the US Department of Energy, there is an additional 30,000 MW of potential capacity across 5,677 sites; of this, 21,000 MW could be achieved by using more efficient turbines without building new dams. Currently, only 3 percent of the more than 75,000 US dams generate hydroelectricity.
• Hydroelectricity is the most affordable electrical power source, costing approximately 0.6 cents per kWh, which is significantly lower than nuclear energy or conventional fossil fuels. This low cost is attributed to the fact that US dams were built decades ago, resulting in minimal debt service or capital costs, and the technology requires no fuel and has low operational and maintenance costs.
• Hydropower offers pollution prevention benefits; the US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy estimated that if fossil fuels had produced the same energy as hydropower plants in 1999, 77 million metric tons of carbon would have been emitted, which equals the emissions of half the passenger cars driven in the US in 1999.
• The industry faces several challenges, including federal relicensing processes that can lead to generation losses—averaging 4.2 percent between 1986 and 2001 for 246 plants—and environmental impacts such as blocking fish migratory routes, lowering water oxygen levels, and flooding land. Additionally, droughts in the western United States have reduced generation capacity.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2006). Renewable Energy Fact Sheet. https://www.eesi.org/files/hydropower_0506.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Renewable Energy Fact Sheet. 2006. https://www.eesi.org/files/hydropower_0506.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Renewable Energy Fact Sheet |date=May 2006 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/hydropower_0506.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2006renewable, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Renewable Energy Fact Sheet}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2006}, month = may, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/hydropower_0506.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }