The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry, announced that U.S. wind energy installations now exceed 10,000MW in generating capacity, and produce enough electricity on a typical day to power the equivalent of over 2.5 million homes. A megawatt of wind power generates enough to serve 250 to 300 average homes.
"Wind energy is providing new electricity supplies that work for our country's economy, environment, and energy security," said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. "With its current performance, wind energy is demonstrating that it could rapidly become an important part of the nation's power portfolio."
The record growth in wind power is driven by demand for the increasingly popular energy source and concerns over fuel price volatility and supply. It was also made possible by a timely renewal of the production tax credit (PTC), a federal incentive extended in the Energy Policy Act signed a year ago by President Bush. Previously, the credit had been allowed to expire three times in seven years, and this uncertainty discouraged investment in wind turbine manufacturing in the country. AWEA is calling for a long-term extension of the PTC before its scheduled expiration at the end of 2007 to avoid further "on-again-off-again" cycles and encourage long-term investment.
The industry is gaining momentum as it grows. The first commercial wind farms were constructed in California in the early 1980s, and after reaching 1,000MW in 1985, it took more than a decade for wind to reach the 2,000MW mark, in 1999. Since then, however, installed capacity has grown fivefold. Today, the industry is installing more wind power in a single year (3,000 MW expected in 2006) than the amount operating in the entire country in 2000 (2,500 MW).
