These three cities are Burlington, VT; Greensburg, KS; and Aspen, CO.

Burlington, Vermont gets its power solely from wind, solar, hydroelectric, and biomass sources. In fact, the entire state of Vermont has a statewide goal of achieving 90 percent of its energy from renewables by 2050—that’s everything from electricity and heating to transportation! Considering that Burlington is the largest city in the state, they are off to a great start.

Greensburg, Kansas’s journey to complete renewable energy dependence is an incredibly inspirational one. After a 2007 tornado that killed 13 and injured more than 60 others, the town was left in shambles. The devastation was so bad that over 95 percent of the town was completely destroyed.

In the process of rebuilding their city, the citizens of Greensburg decided that their town should have a better infrastructure. This resulted in the development of a plan to achieve 100% renewable electricity. Greensburg rose from the ashes as clean energy and environmental champions, and the town is now known as “America’s greenest little town.” Such a great story!

Aspen, Colorado is the most recent entry into the list. Aspen gets the vast majority of its energy from wind and hydroelectricity, though they also get some energy from solar and geothermal sources. Aspen had been at the ~80% mark for quite a while, finally reaching 100% with an August 2015 agreement to get wind farms from the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska.

You can contribute to America’s renewable energy sources by choosing Star Energy Partners for your electricity needs. Our programs let you choose from several renewable energy options including wind, solar, biomass and hydropower, all while supporting the renewal energy industry. Click here to learn more!

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Washington is the clear winner, and Delaware is the clear loser of this list, coming in at first and last, respectively. Here is the complete top 10 list in order, for measuring amount of renewable energy production:

1. Washington
2. California
3. Oregon
4. New York
5. Alabama
6. Georgia
7. Tennessee
8. North Carolina
9. Iowa
10. Florida

Naturally, we were curious about where the Star Energy Partners service territories showed up on this list, and we were not disappointed! While none of them were in the top 10 in production, they still performed pretty well:

• Illinois–16^th
• Pennsylvania–17^th
• Ohio–26^th
• New Jersey–37^th

Fortunately, there is good news for these states that are lower on the list. Ohio, for instance, ranks first in the number of facilities manufacturing wind components and second for solar equipment, as of 2013. What’s more, Ohio ranked in the top 10 when measuring the most improved renewable energy states since 1990 in terms of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

New Jersey is also an up and coming renewable energy market. The state recently inked a plan to bring offshore wind farms to the Jersey Shore. This will certainly give their score a nice shot in the arm for next time!

Renewable energy is certainly on the rise. Most forms of renewable energy are as cheap as they have ever been. Add to that the Pope’s public advocacy for environmental stewardship and the EPA’s toughened regulations through the Clean Power Plan, and the future of energy is looking bright.

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