Pennsylvania ranks an “abysmal” 48^th among all states (and the District of Columbia) in growing renewable energy in the last 10 years, according to a new report by the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center.

Other states in the Chesapeake Bay drainage fared better. Virginia ranked 4th, Washington, D.C. 13th and Maryland 20th. The ranking was based on the amount of wind, solar and geothermal energy, battery storage put in place from 2014 to 2023, plus energy-efficiency improvements and the number of electric vehicles on the road. New York ranked 33rd and West Virginia 46th.^.

The report used data from the U.S. Department of Energy and other sources to rate the states in their use of renewable energy.

The report was hard on Pennsylvania for being slow to unfold renewable energy even with new financial incentives made available by  the Inflation Reduction Act and other federal initiatives.

“Despite Pennsylvania’s legacy of leading on energy development, we are falling behind the national pace of renewable energy growth and missing out on the huge economic and environmental opportunities that the renewable energy economy offers,” said Ellie Kerns, climate and clean energy advocate with PennEnvironment.

Pennsylvania so far has refused to allow community solar projects, and legislators have blocked the state’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that other states in the region have joined.

However, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed his own energy plan, which would require utilities supplying power to the state to get 35% of their power from renewables by 2035. Currently, only 3% of the state’s electricity comes from renewables.

Though Pennsylvania continues to bring up the rear in converting to a renewable energy economy, its rankings for progress in 2023 showed improvement.

For example, when just 2023 is considered, the state ranks 14^th among all states for number of electric vehicles, 11th for electric vehicle charging ports, 21st for wind energy installations and 26th for new solar.

Other Bay drainage states recorded favorable progress in 2023 also.

New York was 2nd in the nation for electric vehicle charging ports, 6th for electric vehicles and 8th for solar power. Virginia was 9th for new solar and 11th for number of electric vehicles. Maryland was 18th for new solar, 13th for electric vehicles and 8th for electric vehicle charging ports.