Wind and solar now generate about half of New Mexico's electricity, roughly 40% in Colorado and about a third in Nevada. In Wyoming, they account for around 30%, while Idaho gets about a quarter. In Arizona and Utah, wind and solar produce about 20% of electricity.
A big reason: falling costs.
Prices have dropped about 75% for solar and roughly 50% for wind over the past decade, helping make them some of the cheapest sources of new electricity, said Climate Central's Kaitlyn Trudeau.
"These are really cheap sources of energy, and they're abundant," Trudeau said. "We've got them — we've got wind, we've got sun."
Nationwide, wind and solar generated enough electricity last year to power more than 79 million homes, according to the report.
But demand for electricity is also rising, driven in part by energy-hungry data centers, the growth of artificial intelligence, and increasing heating and cooling use in homes and businesses.
"Data centers are becoming a really big deal, and they're putting pressure on electricity systems and on everyday Americans," Trudeau said.
That demand could put pressure on utilities to keep pace, even as policymakers and grid operators face constraints around transmission capacity and energy storage.
Those challenges, including policy uncertainty and limits on grid infrastructure, could shape how quickly renewable energy continues to grow in the Mountain West, Trudeau said.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between KUNR, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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