A Snapshot of Renewable Energy Deployment

This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute provides a comparative analysis of renewable electricity technologies—water, wind, biomass, geothermal, and solar—against conventional power sources in the United States. It examines metrics such as installed capacity, capital costs, construction timelines, and carbon displacement to highlight the flexibility and growing cost-competitiveness of renewables.

• Renewable electricity in the United States grew by 86.6 percent between 1998 and 2011, accounting for 10.6 percent of the total electric generation.
• Hydropower is the largest deployed renewable electricity resource in the U.S. with an installed capacity of approximately 96,000 MW, though the Department of Energy estimates an additional 30,000 MW of undeveloped potential.
• Wind energy is the fastest growing renewable technology in the U.S., with capacity increasing by a factor of 14.14 from 2000 to 2009. By mid-2010, total installed capacity reached 36,698 MW, with a national average installed cost of approximately $2,000 per kW.
• U.S. biomass power capacity was approximately 10,800 MW in 2009. Costs vary by technology: a 50 MW direct-fired plant costs $2,600 to $3,000 per kW, while converting coal plants to co-fire with biomass costs between $100 and $600 per kW.
• Geothermal capacity in the U.S. reached 3,086.6 MW in 2009. The Energy Information Administration estimated 2010 power plant costs at approximately $4,100 per kW, though this figure rises to $4,900 per kW when including financing costs.
• By the end of 2009, the U.S. had 2,108 MW of installed solar power, consisting of 1,676 MW of photovoltaic (PV) and 432 MW of concentrating solar power (CSP). PV module prices dropped 40 percent between 2008 and 2009.
• Conventional power sources have significantly higher carbon footprints and longer construction times than renewables. Coal plants typically take four to five years to construct, while nuclear plants can take 5 to 10 or more years.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2011). A Snapshot of Renewable Energy Deployment. https://www.eesi.org/files/re_deployment_011211.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. A Snapshot of Renewable Energy Deployment. 2011. https://www.eesi.org/files/re_deployment_011211.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=A Snapshot of Renewable Energy Deployment |date=January 2011 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/re_deployment_011211.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2011snapshot, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{A Snapshot of Renewable Energy Deployment}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2011}, month = jan, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/re_deployment_011211.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }