Dim ranking
Texas does residents dirty with sad ranking on new clean energy list
In a new report that looks at states with the cleanest electricity across the country, Texas seems to have some room for improvement.
According to the December 2023 report from SmartAsset, Texas has the most clean energy capacity at 56,405 megawatts, but continues to trail states with similar geographic characteristics in overall clean electricity prevalence.
Texas ranks No. 22 on the list of states with the most clean energy. Washington is No. 1 and California, comparable in geographic size to Texas, comes in at No. 11. In California, 44.3 percent of its energy capacity comes from clean energy.
In Texas, only 38 percent of the state’s electricity capacity comes from clean electricity, SmartAsset says.
Texas has the largest wind capacity to help generate clean energy, with over three times more than Iowa, which is the second-biggest wind power producer. Clean electricity makes up 57 percent of Iowa’s total energy capacity (22,546.4 megawatts), the report says.
Texas also has the second-largest solar capacity, which means Texas has the most means, space, and potential to accommodate cleaner electricity, the report says.
SmartAsset compiled its study by comparing the amount of geothermal, solar, wind, and nuclear operations as a percentage of a state’s full electricity production capacity. States were ranked based on the percentage of clean energy sources used to generate the total net summer electricity production capacity. According to the report, the 2022 data comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Top 10 states with the highest proportions of clean electricity production, according to SmartAsset:
- Washington
- Oregon
- Idaho
- Vermont
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Iowa
- New Mexico
- Kansas
- North Dakota
In 2023, home service management platform Thumbtack ranked cities based upon solar panel installations; San Antonio was ranked No. 9 most “solar” city in the United States.
