middle of the pack
Report: Texas has promising capacity for clean electricity, but still falls behind nationally
In a new report that looked at states with the cleanest electricity across the country, Texas seems to have some room for improvement.
According to the 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 energy prevalence.
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 made up 57 percent of Iowa’s total energy capacity (22,546.4 megawatts).
However, in Texas only 38 percent of the state’s electricity capacity comes from clean electricity. Texas also has the second-largest solar capacity, which means Texas has the most means, space, and potential to accommodate cleaner electricity.
Texas as a whole, ranked No. 22 on the list for states with the most clean energy. Washington was No.1 and California, comparable in geographic size to Texas, came in at No. 11. California had 44.3 percent of its energy capacity being from clean energy.
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.
Last year, home service management platform Thumbtack ranked cities based upon solar panel installations. Texas fared better here, and the Lone Star State split up four Californian cities in the top five of that report.