EIA Renewable Energy Generator Scraper — EIA-860 Power Plant Database by State

Scrape the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) operating generator inventory for solar, wind, battery storage, hydroelectric, geothermal, and other clean energy technologies. This EIA-860 / 860M power plant database lets you pull a renewable energy generator database filtered by state, technology, and balancing authority, with plant locations (latitude/longitude) and capacity in MW. Data is sourced from EIA Form 860/860M (Annual Electric Power Industry Report and Monthly Update) via the EIA Open Data API v2.

What data does it return?

Each record covers one generator at a power plant as of a given monthly reporting period:

• Plant & Entity — plant name, plant ID, entity (utility/owner) name and ID
• Location — state, county, latitude, longitude
• Technology — Solar Photovoltaic, Onshore/Offshore Wind Turbine, Batteries, Conventional Hydroelectric, Geothermal, etc.
• Capacity — nameplate capacity (MW), net summer capacity (MW), net winter capacity (MW)
• Dates — operating start date (YYYY-MM), planned retirement date
• Status — OP (Operating), SB (Standby/Backup), OS (Out of service)
• Grid — balancing authority code and name (CAISO, PJM, ERCOT, MISO, NYISO, etc.)
• Sector — electric utility, IPP, small power producer, etc.
• Period — reporting month (YYYY-MM); defaults to latest available

Prerequisites

A free EIA API key is required for production use. Register at https://www.eia.gov/opendata/register.php. The DEMO_KEY (used when no key is provided) is limited to 5 requests per hour per IP.

Usage

Basic — solar generators in California

{
  "apiKey": "YOUR_EIA_API_KEY",
  "technologies": ["Solar Photovoltaic"],
  "states": ["CA"],
  "statuses": ["OP"],
  "maxItems": 100
}

Wind farms in Texas

{
  "apiKey": "YOUR_EIA_API_KEY",
  "technologies": ["Onshore Wind Turbine"],
  "states": ["TX"],
  "statuses": ["OP"],
  "maxItems": 500
}

All renewables nationwide (large run)

{
  "apiKey": "YOUR_EIA_API_KEY",
  "technologies": ["Solar Photovoltaic", "Onshore Wind Turbine", "Offshore Wind Turbine", "Batteries", "Conventional Hydroelectric", "Geothermal"],
  "statuses": ["OP"],
  "maxItems": 0
}

Specific reporting period

{
  "apiKey": "YOUR_EIA_API_KEY",
  "technologies": ["Solar Photovoltaic"],
  "period": "2025-12",
  "statuses": ["OP"],
  "maxItems": 1000
}

Input parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
apiKey	String	No	DEMO_KEY	Free EIA Open Data API key
technologies	Array	No	Solar, Wind, Batteries	Technology filter. Leave empty for all.
states	Array	No	All states	Two-letter state codes (CA, TX, NY...)
statuses	Array	No	OP	OP=Operating, SB=Standby, OS=Out of service, OA=Out of service (returning)
period	String	No	Latest	Reporting period in YYYY-MM format
maxItems	Integer	No	10	Max records. 0 = no limit

Output sample

{
  "generator_id": "10437-SUN2",
  "plant_id": "10437",
  "plant_name": "Sunray 2",
  "entity_id": "60246",
  "entity_name": "Sunray Energy 2, LLC",
  "state_code": "CA",
  "state_name": "California",
  "county": "San Bernardino",
  "technology": "Solar Photovoltaic",
  "fuel_type": "SUN",
  "fuel_description": "Solar",
  "prime_mover": "PV",
  "nameplate_capacity_mw": 20,
  "net_summer_capacity_mw": 20,
  "net_winter_capacity_mw": 18.5,
  "operating_date": "2017-06",
  "planned_retirement_date": null,
  "status_code": "OP",
  "status_description": "Operating",
  "balancing_authority_code": "CISO",
  "balancing_authority_name": "California Independent System Operator",
  "latitude": 34.863356,
  "longitude": -116.827627,
  "period": "2026-02",
  "sector": "ipp-non-chp",
  "sector_name": "IPP Non-CHP"
}

Data source — EIA Open Data API and EIA-860 power plant data

• EIA Open Data API v2 — https://api.eia.gov/v2/electricity/operating-generator-capacity/
• EIA Form 860 — Annual Electric Power Industry Report (operating generators)
• EIA Form 860M — Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (monthly updates)
• Coverage: All US states and territories, 2008-present, monthly updates
• Dataset size: ~4.7M records total across all technologies and periods

FAQ

How do I download EIA-860 power plant data by state? Set the states filter to one or more two-letter state codes (CA, TX, NY) and run the actor. It returns every operating generator in those states from the EIA-860 / 860M inventory, with plant locations and capacity.

Where can I get a list of US solar and wind farm locations with coordinates? Set technologies to Solar Photovoltaic, Onshore Wind Turbine, and Offshore Wind Turbine. Each record includes latitude and longitude, so the output doubles as a geocoded solar and wind farm location database.

Is there a free EIA generator database or API alternative? This actor wraps the free EIA Open Data API v2 directly. Register a free EIA API key, or run with the DEMO_KEY for small test pulls (5 requests per hour).

Can I filter battery storage projects by balancing authority (ISO/RTO)? Yes. Set technologies to Batteries, then filter the output by balancing_authority_code (CAISO, PJM, ERCOT, MISO, NYISO). Each record carries the balancing authority code and name.

Notes

• The EIA dataset covers operating generators (already built and in service). It does not include projects in the interconnection queue or under construction.
• Monthly data is typically published with a 2-3 month lag. The latest available period is returned by default.
• For large runs (all renewables, no state filter), set maxItems: 0 and ensure your API key has sufficient rate-limit headroom.