Live Free or Die Hard

Live Free or Die Hard is a 2007 action-adventure film that, in a nutshell, is a repeat of the plot of the first Die Hard movie but on steroids. 

Instead of destroying one building to steal millions, these greedy bastards are destroying the entire country to claim trillions, all handily portable via laptop though it's stolen from a facility requiring THREE cooling towers to cope with the heat from the server farm.

No big. I shall fit this ocean of data in a sippy cup! 

So one wonders in this insta apocalypse where the entire Eastern Grid (TM)[1] is taken out except for the house of the paranoid nutter The Warlock: where are the off-grid losers whose lives would work more or less the same and what role would hyper local power production play where individual homes have solar generation or similar?

What percentage of the US electric supply comes from such hyper local power production? 

And that copilot annoyingly SAYS:
Independent (renewable) electric generation currently makes up about 30% of total U.S. electricity supply, based on the most recent 2026 data. 

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📌 What this percentage represents
The term independent electric generation is often used interchangeably with renewable generation or non‑utility fossil‑free generation, depending on context. The most authoritative, up‑to‑date national data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that:

- Renewables accounted for 30.0% of total U.S. electrical generation in the first third of 2026.  
  This includes wind, solar (utility‑scale and small‑scale), hydropower, biomass, and geothermal.  
  

This figure reflects actual electricity produced (net generation), not installed capacity.

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🔍 Breakdown of the 30% renewable share
Within that 30%:

- Wind + solar together produced 21.8% of U.S. electricity.  
  
- Hydropower, biomass, and geothermal make up the remaining share.  
- Solar and wind each exceeded coal generation in April 2026.  
  
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🕒 How this compares to earlier years
For context:

- In 2022, renewables were 21.3% of total U.S. generation.  
  ")
- By 2025, wind and solar alone reached 17% of total generation.  
  ")
- By early 2026, total renewables reached 30%, showing rapid growth.

This means the renewable share has increased by nearly 9 percentage points in four years, driven primarily by solar expansion.

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📈 Capacity vs. generation
While your question is about generation, it’s useful to note that:

- As of May 2026, renewables represent 33.8% of U.S. utility‑scale generating capacity, projected to reach 36.8% by April 2027.  
  

Capacity grows ahead of generation, so the renewable share of actual electricity produced is expected to continue rising.

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🧭 Summary
If by independent electric generation you mean renewable, non‑fossil, non‑nuclear sources, then:

> Renewables currently supply about 30% of total U.S. electricity generation (2026).  
> This is the most recent and authoritative figure available from the EIA.

If you meant independent power producers (IPPs) specifically—regardless of fuel type—let me know, and I can break down that share as well.
Yes, I meant independent power producers.

So I asked "what percentage of US power comes from hyper local independent power producers" and I'm told both we don't actually track that -- at best, we somewhat closely track small scale solar and not other local generators and don't know what you, silly girl, mean by hyper local -- and also roughly three percent.

Ages and ages ago, sometime after I stopped having a rotary phone and pet dinosaur but before I ever got a cell phone, I was subscribed to a dead tree magazine about solar power. As, you know, housewives do.

And I can tell you that the first rule of going off grid is FIRST you go on an electricity diet. You track every watt used and stop having six clocks to tell you the time where one or two will do.

So I'm guessing that the three percent of national power generated by presumably individual residences represents a LOT more than three percent or ten percent or whatever of their power usage. 

AND that brings me to my REAL point that I have no means whatsoever to begin to try to quantify:

What if we began transitioning to passive solar design? 

What if the lion's share of electric power was used for things like manufacturing and computers instead of HVAC and food storage because buildings were comfortable, temperature-wise, without a constant supply of electricity? And food storage was likewise more heavily dependent on shelf stable storage and cellars in place of refrigerators and freezers?


Footnotes 
[1] This is absolute bullshit on the face of it. There is no "Eastern, Western and CENTRAL Grids." That would be Eastern, Western and TEXAS which is part of why the state of Texas is a hot mess whose SNAFU status regularly turns FUBAR anytime they have a major storm: 

WHEN local power inevitably goes down AGAIN, oopsie, there's little or no ability to ship in power from elsewhere.

Copilot says (keep in mind this is the same brilliant AI that claims No Rain by Blind Melon is the source of a song line that's absolutely not in that song, no):

The three main electric grids in the United States are the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection, and the Texas Interconnection.
1. Eastern Interconnection
Coverage: This grid serves the eastern part of the United States, extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean.
Functionality: It is one of the largest synchronous grids in the world, allowing for the transmission of electricity across a vast area, which helps in balancing supply and demand efficiently.
2. Western Interconnection
Coverage: This grid covers the western states, including California, Oregon, Washington, and parts of Canada and Mexico.
Functionality: Similar to the Eastern Interconnection, it operates as a synchronous grid, facilitating the movement of electricity across long distances and integrating various energy sources, including renewables.
3. Texas Interconnection (ERCOT)
Coverage: The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) operates the Texas Interconnection, which is largely independent from the other two grids.
Functionality: ERCOT manages the flow of electric power to millions of Texas customers and is known for its unique market structure and regulatory environment, allowing for a high penetration of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
These three grids are crucial for the reliability and efficiency of the U.S. electrical system, each serving distinct regions and operating under different regulatory frameworks. They are interconnected at various points, allowing for some level of power exchange, particularly between the Eastern and Western Interconnections 
One of their sources: 

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