Renewable plants rise

Renewable plants

As new power plants are built across the country over the next year, more than three-quarters of the potential electricity they generate will come from the wind and the sun. It’s not just coal power they’re replacing. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects the development of new natural gas power plants to slow this year. Wind is expected to fuel 44% of the new electricity capacity that’s built, while solar energy is expected to provide 32%, according to reports from the EIA. Natural gas-fired power plants will provide

22% of the new capacity. But when it comes to measuring the electricity that’s actually generated from the new sources, natural gas may end up powering more than 22%, because those plants can be run all the time, including when the sun isn’t shining or wind isn’t blowing. The trend is expected to continue next year. The EIA expects generation from renewable energy sources other than hydroelectricity to grow by 17% in 2021 while natural gas-fired generation will decline by 2.3%. Coal generation is expected to fall by 3.2%.