New Jersey and Arizona see surges in solar power generation. New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities announced that the state had generated 1 gigawatt of installed solar capacity. This makes New Jersey only the third state to reach 1 GW of solar, after California and Arizona. NJ.com reports:
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Gov. Chris Christie called the 1 gigawatt barrier "an incredible achievement," adding "it is clear that New Jersey will remain one of the largest solar energy markets in the United States."
In Arizona, a recent survey named solar as far and away the top energy choice for Arizonans. In the poll, an astonishing 62 percent of Arizonans chose solar as their first choice of energy. The distant second choice was natural gas, with just 9 percent of Arizonans naming it as their top energy source. Phoenix Business Journal reports:
Arizona results are a bit of an outlier in the survey, where most renewable choices were selected as a first choice by about 30 percent, give or take, in the other five states surveyed.