Sources

renewablesinfo.org assembles data from 13 federal and open sources. Each source contributes a specific dimension — identification, ownership, engineering, generation, financial, grid, or context. This page documents every source, what it provides, and how often it updates.

Source overview

Primary sources

These form the backbone of the platform. Every plant in the database originates from EIA filings.

EIA-860M (monthly generator data)

The Energy Information Administration publishes a monthly update of the generator inventory — new plants, status changes, retirements, and capacity updates. This is the most frequently updated primary source and drives the base layer of the pipeline. Published as an Excel file on the EIA website, typically within 2 months of the reporting period.

EIA-860 Annual (detailed schedules)

The annual filing contains detailed schedules not available in the monthly release — including ownership percentages, environmental equipment, fuel contracts, and planned modifications. Published mid-year for the prior calendar year (e.g., 2024 data available in mid-2025). This is the deepest EIA source and provides fields like sector, regulatory status, and detailed location data.

EIA Generation API (v2)

Monthly net generation in MWh for every plant, accessed through the EIA Open Data API v2. The pipeline fetches incrementally — only months not yet stored — making monthly refreshes fast. This data powers the generation charts, capacity factor calculations, and efficiency rankings on each plant detail page.

Financial sources

FERC Form 1 (via PUDL)

Annual financial data for approximately 1,400 regulated electric utilities, including capital expenditures, operating expenses, fuel costs, and depreciation. Accessed through Catalyst Cooperative's PUDL (Public Utility Data Liberation) project, which cleans and standardizes the raw FERC filings. Coverage is limited to regulated utilities — independent power producers and merchant generators are not included.

LBNL Utility-Scale Solar

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory publishes annual data on utility-scale solar projects, including installed cost ($/W), PPA prices ($/MWh), and project characteristics. Matched to plants by EIA Plant ID. This is the primary source for solar financial metrics on the platform.

FERC EQR (Electric Quarterly Reports)

Quarterly contract filing data from FERC, showing energy transactions between sellers and buyers — including contract prices, volumes, and counterparty names. Accessed through PUDL. Provides the energy contract data shown in the Financial section of plant detail pages.

Enrichment sources

These sources add depth beyond what EIA provides — ownership intelligence, engineering specifications, spatial data, and context.

GEM (Global Energy Monitor)

GEM publishes tracker databases for renewable and fossil energy projects worldwide. For US plants, GEM provides parent company identification, ownership chains (subsidiary → parent → ultimate parent), and entity metadata that EIA does not capture. The pipeline auto-discovers GEM tracker Excel files by glob pattern — no hardcoded filenames.

Wikidata

Wikidata provides Q-identifiers that link plants to Wikipedia articles, OpenStreetMap entries, and other knowledge bases. The pipeline uses SPARQL queries to fetch Q-IDs, owner/operator identifiers, and cross-reference links. This is the bridge between structured energy data and the broader linked data ecosystem.

Wikipedia

Plant summaries fetched via Wikidata Q-IDs. When a plant has a Wikipedia article, the opening paragraphs are extracted and displayed in the About section of the plant detail page. Provides human-readable context that structured data alone cannot convey.

USPVDB (US Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database)

Published by USGS, the USPVDB provides spatial and engineering data for large-scale solar installations — panel area, tracking type (fixed, single-axis, dual-axis), DC/AC ratio, and geographic footprint. Matched to EIA generators by plant ID and generator ID. Covers approximately 75% of solar generators in the EIA inventory.

USWTDB (US Wind Turbine Database)

Published by USGS, the USWTDB provides per-turbine data for land-based wind installations — hub height, rotor diameter, total height, manufacturer, model, and rated capacity. Matched to EIA generators by plant ID. Does not cover offshore wind (8 generators affected).

OpenStreetMap

OSM provides boundary polygons for power plants (displayed on the map section) and substation data used for grid pricing node crosswalks (voltage, operator, geographic coordinates). Accessed through the Overpass API and bulk data exports.

Google News (via Serper API)

Recent news articles mentioning specific plants, fetched via Google News search through the Serper API. Currently covers plants with nameplate capacity of 100 MW or greater (~3,300 plants). Articles are validated, deduplicated, and enriched with source favicons before display.

How sources combine

The pipeline assembles these sources in layers. EIA provides the base inventory (every plant, every generator). GEM adds ownership intelligence. USPVDB and USWTDB add engineering detail. EIA Generation API adds time-series production data. FERC, LBNL, and EQR add financial context. Wikidata and Wikipedia add human-readable context. OSM adds spatial boundaries. News adds current events. Each layer is independent — a source failure does not block others from updating.