U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Wind Program

Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Wind

August 14, 2012





7. Higher wind speeds mean more electricity, and wind turbines are getting taller to reach higher altitudes where it's even windier. See the Energy Department's wind resource maps to find average wind speeds in your state or hometown.



4. The United States generates more wind energy than any other country except China, and wind accounts for 35% of all newly installed U.S. electricity generation capacity over the last four years.

3. The United States' wind power capacity reached 47,000 megawatts by the end of 2011 and has since grown to 50,000 megawatts. That's enough electricity to power over 12 million homes annually—as many homes as in the entire state of California—and represents an 18-fold increase in capacity since 2000.

2. Wind energy is affordable. Wind prices for power contracts signed in 2011 are 50% lower than those signed in 2009, and levelized wind prices (the price the utility pays to buy power from a wind farm) are as low as 3 cents per kilowatt-hour in some areas of the country.

1. As much as 20% of our nation's electricity could come from wind energy by 2030 but continued support for clean energy tax credits is critical to achieving this target. That's why President Obama is calling for an extension on the Production Tax Credit—to support wind producers in the U.S. and continue to help drive the wind industry's growth.