For the first time ever, wind power was the #1 source of new electricity generation in the United States last year.
Wind energy is now the fastest growing source of power in the United States – representing 43 percent of all new U.S. electric generation capacity in 2012 and $25 billion in new investment...In the first four years of the Obama Administration, American electricity generation from wind and solar power more than doubled.
This upbeat assessment comes from the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), which released two new reports on America's wind energy production and manufacturing.Nine states rely on wind power for more than 12 percent of their annual energy consumption, with Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota exceeding a 20 percent share. For the past two years, "the price of wind under long-term power purchase contracts averaged just 4¢ per kilowatt hour."
Installed wind power capacity doubled from 2011, but such dramatic growth is in jeopardy because production tax credits are expiring.