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Blog posted On July 19, 2017
A little change goes a long way in Georgetown, Texas, located about thirty miles north of the state capital, Austin. Georgetown is one of the first cities in the United States to be completely powered by renewable energy. To date, Texas produces more wind energy than the next three leading states combined.
The decision for Georgetown to switch to renewable energy was largely an economic one. In 2012, Georgetown city planners determined that solar and wind power had more predictable pricing than oil and gas, which tend to fluctuate more dramatically. In a place like Georgetown, where a lot of residents live on a fixed income, predictable pricing was the more attractive energy option.
Former Vice President and Environmental Activist Al Gore visited Georgetown, Texas for his upcoming documentary, An Inconvenient Sequel. In an interview with Fast Company, Gore praised, “the achievements of Georgetown, Texas, are especially important because they demonstrate that all the wonderful work that has been done by innovators, by scientists, technologists, startups, and CEOs has come together to produce a startling revolution in renewable energy, with solar and wind electricity now cheaper than electricity made from burning fossil fuels in many places.”
When Georgetown switched to 100% renewable energy, only one other city in the nation was operating like this. Today, approximately 37 cities are either 100% renewable or on track to achieve this status in the next twenty years.
Sources: Fast Company, Go100%.org, NPR
