Clean Edge, Inc. has released its seventh annual U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index, which tracks and ranks the clean-energy and clean-tech activities of all 50 states and the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S. The 2016 edition comes at a time of notable acceleration in the nation's transition to a clean-energy economy. This year's Top 10 states are California, Massachusetts, Vermont, Oregon, New York, Colorado, Illinois, Connecticut, Washington, and Hawaii. The Top 10 metros are San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Portland, Ore., Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, Austin, and Chicago. A free downloadable summary report is available at www.cleanedge.com.
The transition to a clean-energy economy over the past seven years is remarkable, with 14 states now exceeding 10% in-state generation from non-hydro renewables (up from just one state in 2010). The top three states (Iowa, South Dakota, and Kansas) are at 31%, 25% and 24%, respectively.
"This shift represents both the maturation of the clean-energy sector and a deployment landscape that transcends politics," says Clean Edge managing director Ron Pernick. "Among the Top 10 states for utility-scale clean-electricity generation in our 2016 Index, half were red states during the last presidential election (Idaho, Kansas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota) and half were blue states (California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, and Vermont)."
Sponsors of the 2016 U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index include lead partner Wells Fargo and supporting partners Cleantech San Diego, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, New York Economic Development Corporation, Portland Development Commission, Sierra Club, and the World Resources Institute. Data partners include Cleantech Group, EQ Research, Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C., and IHS Automotive.
