Top Ten U.S. Cities Ranked by Use of Renewable Energy

April 18, 2007
Top Ten U.S. Cities Ranked by Use of Renewable Energy
Peterborough, New Hampshire [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]

A newly released study conducted by SustainLane Government concludes that Oakland, California, generates the highest percentage of renewable energy out of all U.S. cities, producing 5 percent more energy than any other city surveyed.

“Results in Oakland are built on the substantial foundation of renewable energy created by California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard.”

— Scott Wentworth, City of Oakland, Energy Engineer
Leading the nation with 17 percent of its electricity produced by sources such as solar, wind and geothermal, most renewable energy generation in the city comes from commercial and residential photovoltaic (PV) systems.

According to City of Oakland Energy Engineer Scott Wentworth, the city is undertaking many important projects including: working with San Francisco State University, Marin County, and the City and County of San Francisco to create tools for assessing solar potential of commercial and residential properties; conducting wave and tidal power studies in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute and other California cities; and outfitting new municipal buildings to accommodate solar systems — even if the resources are not available to install the system immediately.

Oakland has strongly supported solar energy and encouraged citizens to do the same, said Wentworth.

“We are excited that SustainLane Governments figures show that we are achieving positive results. The results that are happening in Oakland are derived from increasingly effective collaboration between government agencies, utilities, for-profit businesses and non-governmental organizations,” he said.

Wentworth noted that Oakland works with other California cities like San Francisco and Marin to learn from one another and develop stronger renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose all tied for second place with 12 percent of their energy coming from renewable energy sources.

Percentage of Power from Renewable Energy

1

Oakland, CA

17%

2

Sacramento/San Francisco/San Jose, CA

12%

3

Portland, OR

10%

4

Boston, MA

8.6%

5

San Diego, CA

8%

6

Austin, TX

6%

7

Los Angeles, CA

5%

8

Minneapolis, MN

5%

9

Seattle, WA

3.5%

10

Chicago, Il

3%

Source: SustainLane U.S. City Rankings data 2006/2007