What Is Powering Renewable Energy

Renewable energy provides a growing amount of the U.S. electricity supply, but it still accounts for a small percentage compared with the Big Three: coal, natural gas, and nuclear.

In 2013, renewable power provided about 13 percent of the nation's energy, according to the Energy Information Administration. Hydroelectric power accounted for about half of that.

Wind energy accounted for 4 percent of the nation's power production. Solar energy, for all the attention it gets, accounted for 9 million megawatt hours, or 0.2 percent of the more than 4 billion MWh produced by the U.S. power industry.

By comparison, fossil fuels, primarily coal and natural gas, accounted for 67 percent of electricity production. Nuclear power accounted for 19 percent.

Pennsylvania, which exports power to other states, generated 1.5 percent of its power from wind and 0.2 percent from solar. Fossil fuels accounted for 61 percent, and nuclear provided 35 percent.

New Jersey, a net importer of power from other states, is a leading producer of solar power, which accounts for 0.7 percent of state production. Wind accounts for 0.02 percent. Nuclear reactors account for 51 percent of the Garden State's production. - Andrew MaykuthEndText