Clean Edge released its inaugural U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index report featuring extensive data from the firm’s State Index (fourth annual edition) and Metro Index (second annual edition).

“Clean-tech deployment in the U.S. is largely being driven by state and metro-level activity,” says Clean Edge managing director Ron Pernick. “And it’s no longer about small, barely visible slices of market share. Overall, renewable energy (from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and other sources) accounted for 49 percent of the nation’s added electricity capacity in 2012 – its largest share ever and more than the 33 percent share of new generation capacity from natural gas.”

The top 10 overall states in the 2013 State Index are:

1. California
2. Massachusetts
3. Oregon
4. New York
5. Colorado
6. Washington
7. New Mexico
8. Illinois
9. Minnesota
10. Hawaii

The top ten overall metro areas in this year’s Index are:

1. San Francisco
2. San Jose
3. Portland, OR
4. Los Angeles
5. Washington, DC
6. Sacramento
7. San Diego
8. Denver
9. Seattle
10. Boston

This year’s Index shows that leadership in clean tech at the state and metro levels is inextricably linked. Half of this year’s top 10 metro areas are located in California – the State Index leader for the past four years. Four other metro areas are located in the top 10 states of Massachusetts, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington. The only exception among the top 10 metro areas is America’s unique “city without a state,” the nation’s capital of Washington, D.C., which ranks fifth in the 2013 Metro Index.

The State Index is comprised of nearly 70 indicators contained in the three major categories of Technology, Policy, and Capital. The Metro Index includes more than 20 indicators within the categories of Green Buildings, Advanced Transportation, Clean Electricity & Carbon Management, and Clean Tech Investment, Innovation, & Workforce. The release of the 50-page report represents the first time Clean Edge has made available a comprehensive public report with state and metro-level scores and rankings beyond its subscriber base.