Wind power in the United States is a branch of the energy industry, expanding quickly over the last several years. Construction of new wind power generation capacity in the fourth quarter of 2012 totaled 8,380 megawatts (MW) bringing the cumulative installed capacity to 60,007 MW. This capacity is exceeded only by China. For the 12 months until March 2013, the electricity produced from wind power in the United States amounted to 145.279 terawatt-hours, or 3.56% of all generated electrical energy.
New wind farms can produce electricity in the 5-8 cents per kWh range, making wind power more competitive with the cost of fossil fuel electricity generation. Fifteen states have installed over 1,000 MW of wind capacity, and a total of 39 states now have installed at least some utility-scale wind power, with Nevada the latest in the 3Q of 2012. Texas, with 12,212 MW of capacity, has the most installed wind power capacity of any U.S. state, followed by California and Iowa with 5,549 MW and 5,137 MW respectively. The Alta Wind Energy Center in California is the largest wind farm in the United States with a capacity of 1020 MW of power.
GE Energy is the largest domestic wind turbine manufacturer. In 2010, the wind power industry in the US received 13.4% ($4.986 billion) of all federal subsidies for electricity generation including 4.852 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
There were 10,312 MW across 30 states under construction in the second quarter of 2012 and 8,430 MW across 30 states and territories under construction in the third quarter of 2012, with less than 100 MW of new construction. The U.S. Department of Energy’s report 20% Wind Energy by 2030 envisioned that wind power could supply 20% of all U.S. electricity, which included a contribution of 4% from offshore wind power. In August 2011, a coalition of 24 governors asked the Obama administration to provide a more favorable business climate for the development of wind power. Near the end of 2012, the United States fiscal cliff undermined the wind industry because of an expiring 2.2₡/kWh tax credit. On January 1, 2013 the production tax credit was extended for another year.
Read more about Wind Power In The United States: Overview, National Trends, State Trends, Offshore Wind Power, Statistics, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words united states, wind, power, united and/or states:
“Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada are the horns, the head, the neck, the shins, and the hoof of the ox, and the United States are the ribs, the sirloin, the kidneys, and the rest of the body.”
—William Cobbett (1762–1835)
“Come away, away children;
Come children, come down!
The hoarse wind blows coldly;
Lights shine in the town.”
—Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)
“Many readers judge of the power of a book by the shock it gives their feelings—as some savage tribes determine the power of muskets by their recoil; that being considered best which fairly prostrates the purchaser.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)
“Greece is a sort of American vassal; the Netherlands is the country of American bases that grow like tulip bulbs; Cuba is the main sugar plantation of the American monopolies; Turkey is prepared to kow-tow before any United States pro-consul and Canada is the boring second fiddle in the American symphony.”
—Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (1909–1989)
“Perhaps anxious politicians may prove that only seventeen white men and five negroes were concerned in the late enterprise; but their very anxiety to prove this might suggest to themselves that all is not told. Why do they still dodge the truth? They are so anxious because of a dim consciousness of the fact, which they do not distinctly face, that at least a million of the free inhabitants of the United States would have rejoiced if it had succeeded. They at most only criticise the tactics.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)