About 25 gigawatts of new electricity was added to the U.S. electric grid in the fourth quarter of 2017. A report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that half of that was from renewable energy resources, including wind and solar.
Between March and May of last year, nuclear power dropped as a resource for the first time in 33 years and renewable energy grew, the report noted. However, the August 21 solar eclipse that darkened midday skies across a significant portion of the country also dropped the output from solar power plants. The EIA report said that the eclipse resulted in solar power in California dropping to 60 percent below normal.
The report was the result of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concerns about the reliability of the grid as it becomes more reliant on renewable resources.