First Solar’s Agua Caliente in Arizona. Credit: GIGAOM

Latest data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) indicates that the United States installed 540MW of renewable energy capacity in January 2015.

The data further indicates that 470MW of this capacity was generated by wind and 70MW generated by solar.

This data for solar appears disappointing as its down considerably from 618MW in December 2014 and from 343 MW in January 2014.

Its interesting that the data also shows that no biomass, geothermal nor small hydro-power plants came online.

New Generation In-Service (New Build and Expansion)

Among the largest wind and solar parks completed and connected to the grid in January are the 204-MW Bison Wind Phase IV expansion project in North Dakota, the 200-MW Headwaters wind power facility in Indiana and the 32-MW Barilla Solar Phase II project in Texas.

Complete list of electric generation highlights from the FERC report:

• Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s 90 MW natural gas-fired Lonesome Creek Station Phase II expansion project
in McKenzie County, ND is online. Lonesome Creek now has a total capacity of 132 MW.
• ALLETE Inc.’s 204 MW Bison Wind Phase IV expansion project in Oliver County, ND is online. Bison Wind now
has a total capacity of 496 MW, making it the largest wind farm in ND. The power generated is sold to Minnesota
Power under long-term contract.
• Keechi Wind LLC’s 110 MW Keechi Wind Farm project in Jack County, TX is online. The power generated is sold
to Microsoft Corp. under long-term contract.
• Akuo Energy USA Inc.’s 95 MW Rocksprings Wind Farm in Val Verde County, TX is online.
• Four Mile Wind Energy LLC’s 40 MW Four Mile Ridge Wind project in Garrett County, MD is online. The power
generated is sold to Delmarva Power & Light Co. under long-term contract.
• Headwaters Wind Farm LLC’s 200 MW Headwaters Wind Farm project in Rudolph County, IN is online. The
power generated is sold to Indian Michigan Power Co. under long-term contract.
• Consolidated Edison Development Inc.’s 19.5 MW Oak Tree Energy Wind project in Clark County, SD is online.
The power generated is sold to NorthWestern Energy South Dakota under long-term contract.
• BNB Texas Solar LLC’s 32 MW Barilla Solar Phase II project in Pecos County, TX is online. Barilla Solar now has a
total capacity of 50 MW.
• Dominion Resources Inc.’s 20 MW RE Kansas Solar project in Kings County, CA is online. The power generated is
sold to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. under long-term contract.
• NJR Clean Energy Ventures’ 10 MW Howell Solar project in Monmouth County, NJ is online.
• Forever 21 Clothing Co.’s 5 MW Forever 21 Solar project in Los Angeles County, CA is online. Forever 21 Solar is
now the largest single-rooftop solar power system in Los Angeles County and the third-largest in California.

Derick Lila
Derick is a Clark University graduate—and Fulbright alumni with a Master's Degree in Environmental Science, and Policy. He has over a decade of solar industry research, marketing, and content strategy experience.

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