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The renewable energy industries of solar and wind power have been vastly increasing over the past decade. Which option is the best? That mostly depends on your geographical location. Obviously, because the wind doesn’t constantly blow everywhere you want to be in an area such as the “wind belt”. This area generally consists of the states bordering the Rocky Mountains and stretching into Iowa at its far eastern boundary. Likewise, the sun doesn’t shine much in areas like Seattle and should be focused in more sunny areas such as deserts or cities like Denver with its 300 plus days of sunshine per year. These two renewable energy sources are making waves in the way some states get their electricity. In 2012, mostly attributed to increases in wind and solar installments, renewable energy accounted for more than 50% of new capacity added. As of 2014 in nine U.S. states 10% of their total electrical production has come from wind power. With production over 20% of the total occurring in Iowa and South Dakota. This is a staggering increasing in a short period of time considering some states doubled capacity in 2012 alone. According to Elizabeth Salerno at the American Wind Energy Association “We are generating enough clean, affordable, American wind energy to power the equivalent of almost 15 million homes, or the number in Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, and Ohio combined.” In the big picture of things wind energy only produced a measly 3.5% of the nation’s needs in 2012. In 2013, the U.S. surpassed 10 gigawatts of installed solar panel capacity. This accounted for 0.23% of the total U.S. consumption in 2013. This small portion of the total at first glance seems almost insignificant in the big picture. However, thanks... ... middle of paper ... ...er Grids Work." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 01 Apr. 2000. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. "Clean Energy Programs." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. Pentland, William. "After Decades Of Doubt, Deregulation Delivers Lower Electricity Prices." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 13 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. "Energy Deregulation." Energy Deregulation. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. "Electric.com Gives You the Power to Choose Your Energy Supplier." Energy Deregulation Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. "Hydraulic Fracturing." Dangers of Fracking. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. "U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis." EIA's Energy in Brief: What Are the Major Sources and Users of Energy in the United States? N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. "What Is the Smart Grid?" Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.