Article by Jack Money for The Oklahoman
A report issued this week that tracks the growth of renewable energy during the past decade gives Oklahoma breezy marks in one area it tracked.
According to the report, Renewables on the Rise 2019 — A Decade of Progress Toward a Clean Energy Future, growth in the amount of wind-generated energy in Oklahoma during that time only was outpaced by the growth of that resource in Texas.
But Oklahoma also was recognized as being among the top 20 states when it comes to energy efficiency improvements during that time.
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Texas, which upgraded its grid to support more wind during the decade, led that growth by adding 55,727 gigawatt hours of generating capacity. Oklahoma added 24,895 gigawatt hours of capacity, followed by Kansas and Iowa.
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Mark Yates, a vice president with the Advanced Power Alliance, said Oklahoma should concentrate on finding companies eager to use renewable energy to get them to relocate their operations to Oklahoma.
“Part of our message has to be that we are an energy state that has an abundance of natural gas, an infinite supply of wind and a phenomenal solar resource,” he said. “Moving forward, we know Oklahoma is going to continue to have the resources to supply low cost power. We need to recruit manufacturing and data centers here to use it, and to create additional quality jobs.”
