Hydropower
Hydropower is energy created from moving water. Dammed water passes through a turbine that rotates a generator to create electrical power. This form of energy is relatively inexpensive and has various ranges of environmental impact depending on the facility size. Hydropower has supplied 28 million homes in the U.S. with electricity, equaling 500 million barrels of oil. In 2007, there were 248.3 billion kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity generated in the U.S. through hydropower, although that’s down from a peak of 356.5 billion kwh in 1997.
Pennsylvania currently generates around one percent of total electricity from hydroelectric dams. The state has large potential to enhance hydroelectric generation since it has the second highest mileage of rivers and streams in the nation.