Clean Energy Momentum Ranking State Progress

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) created the Clean Energy Momentum State Ranking to evaluate how US states are advancing renewable energy, energy efficiency, and vehicle electrification. California, Vermont, and Massachusetts are identified as top overall leaders. The report emphasizes that state-level policy is a critical driver of progress, particularly in the absence of consistent federal leadership, and that clean energy momentum creates jobs and improves public health by reducing power plant emissions.

• California is the overall leader in clean energy momentum, ranking first due to strong performance across eight metrics, including the top position for electric vehicle adoption.
• Vermont ranks second overall and leads the nation in both clean energy jobs per capita and its carbon reduction target.
• Massachusetts ranks third overall and possesses the strongest energy efficiency resource standard in the country.
• Rhode Island ranks fourth overall and is the national leader in energy savings.
• Hawaii ranks fifth overall and leads the United States in residential solar capacity per household, with one in seven homes having solar panels.
• South Dakota is the top performer for the percentage of in-state electricity generation based on renewable energy, with hydropower providing half and wind providing over a quarter of its electricity.
• Kansas leads in the rate of renewable energy generation increase between 2011 and 2015, having tripled its use of wind power from 8 percent to over 24 percent of its generation.
• Wyoming and North Dakota lead in new renewable energy capacity, with Wyoming ranking first based on both the percentage of new power plant capacity and per-capita development.
• Energy efficiency is the largest employer in the clean energy sector, providing approximately 1.9 million jobs nationwide across 165,000 companies.
• New Hampshire and South Dakota are the top states for power plant pollution reduction, based on a combination of emission reductions and remaining per-capita pollution.
• New York and California lead in renewable electricity standard (RES) policy increases, with both committing to source 50 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2030.
• Vermont has the most ambitious global warming emissions reduction target, aiming to reduce emissions by more than 60 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2017). Clean Energy Momentum Ranking State Progress. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/04/Clean-Energy-Momentum-report.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Clean Energy Momentum Ranking State Progress. 2017. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/04/Clean-Energy-Momentum-report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Clean Energy Momentum Ranking State Progress |date=April 2017 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/04/Clean-Energy-Momentum-report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2017clean, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Clean Energy Momentum Ranking State Progress}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2017}, month = apr, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/04/Clean-Energy-Momentum-report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }