Wind power on the rise in U.S.
From: Jeff
Brady, NPR
The U.S. wind power industry is celebrating after reaching a new
milestone in November: 70 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity.
"That's enough to power about 19 million homes," says
Michael Goggin, senior director of research at the American Wind Energy Association
(AWEA).
There are more than 50,000 wind turbines operating across 40
states and Puerto Rico, according to the AWEA.
Wind power has grown quickly in recent years. It sprinted past the
50 GW and 60 GW milestones in 2012. Growth temporarily stalled as members of
Congress let a federal tax credit expire. But now the boom times are back.
The federal budget deal, passed by Congress and signed by
President Obama last week, includes a five-year extension of the Renewable
Energy Production Tax Credit. That sent solar and wind company
stocks soaring.
As a low-carbon source of electricity, wind power also got a boost
from the Paris climate change agreement and the Obama administration's Clean
Power Plan.
"We're approaching 4.5 to 5 percent of total electricity use
in the United States," says Goggin. In 2007 — just eight years ago — that
figure was less than 1 percent.
One reason wind is becoming more competitive is price. "The
cost of wind energy is down by 66 percent — or two-thirds — since 2009,"
says Goggin, who credits new technology and economies of scale as the industry
gets bigger.
Goggin says the wind industry is on-track to meet a plan laid out by the U.S.
Department of Energy to generate a fifth of the country's electricity by 2030.
Read more at NPR.
