Beyond Words

• Date: 01 September 2018

9-2018 NEWS & ANALYSIS 48 ELR 10765

BEYOND WORDS

Each month, ELR publishes a graphic that depicts an environmental law or policy theme or topic. Please send suggested

submissions to austin@eli.org.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Today in Energy (Aug. 8, 2018), https://www.eia.

gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=36813.

Average U.S. Construction Costs for Solar and Wind

Based on 2016 Energy Inform ation Administrat ion data for newly cons tructed utilit y-scale ele ctric

generators (th ose with a capacit y greater than one m egawatt) in the U nited States , annual capacit y-

weighted average constr uction costs for sol ar photovoltaic syste ms and onshore wind turb ines declined,

while construct ion costs for natura l gas generators i ncreased slightly. These th ree technologies

accounted for about 93% of t otal electr ic generating cap acity added in 2016. Across the Unite d States,

investment in elect ric generating ca pacity in 2016 increased more tha n 50% from 2015.

Capacity-weighted average construction costs (2013-2016)

dollars per kilowatt

Capacity-added gigawatts

Copyright © 2018 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.