After dropping to a 20-year low, western U.S. hydropower generation rose 13% last year
The western United States—Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, California, Oregon, and Washington—produced 61% of the country’s hydroelectricity last water year (2021–22). Increases in hydropower generation in the region’s three largest hydropower-producing states—Washington, Oregon, and California—drove last year’s rise in western hydroelectric generation. Combined, these states made up 82% of western hydropower generation in the 2021–22 water year. Data from the Northwest River Forecast Center and the California Department of Water Resources show that increased precipitation in the 2021–22 water year fueled the increased hydropower generation in these states.