Building Electricity

• STEP 1: Look up how electricity is generated in Your Building’s state
a)Go to the US Energy Information Administration website: http://www.eia.gov/state/
b)Select the applicable state from the US map, scroll down, and select the
“Electricity” tab.
c) You’ll see a bar chart with horizontal blue bars entitled “Net
Electricity Generation By Source”, like the one shown to the right. This
chart illustrates the various ways that electricity is generated
in your state during the month of the reporting period. In other words,
there are many power plants located around your state, each using
a different fuel source:
Some power plants are running on nonrenewable fuels and/or fossil fuels, such as coal, natural
gas, petroleum, or nuclear to generate electricity.
Other power plants are generating electricity
from renewable, clean energy sources such as hydroelectric (from
rivers and dams).
In the chart there is a category called “Nonhydroelectric Renewables.” This includes
all renewable energy other than hydroelectric, which have been lumped
together (e.g., solar, wind).
d)Hold your mouse over each blue horizontal bar in the chart and note the number of MWh (mega-Watt hours) consumed for each fuel source that was used to generate electricity in the state. Note that numbers are in thousands, so you have to add three zeros.
e)Calculate the percentage of each fuel source out of the total electricity generated.