The American wind energy industry started construction on an historic and unprecedented number of new wind farms this year.
Key factors spurring growth include an extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and a record number of Power Purchase Agreements with electric utilities. Among other things, the PTC provides up-front tax relief of 2.3 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first 10 years of a project.
At the same time, investments in technological advancements have driven down the cost of wind energy by 43 percent in just four years.
At the end of 2013 there were more U.S. wind power megawatts (MW) under construction than ever in history:
- Over 12,000 MW of new generating capacity was under construction, with a record-breaking 10,900 MW starting construction activity during the fourth quarter.
- The wind projects under construction could power the equivalent of 3.5 million American homes, or all the households in Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas.
- Some of the states poised for major growth in wind energy in coming years include Texas, Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota, and Michigan.
Benefits of wind power continue to grow:
- Recent reports from Oklahoma, the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions have confirmed that wind energy lowers costs for electric consumers.
- Wind power can be critical to parts of the country facing continuing drought. It uses no water in its production and releases no emissions.
- Wind energy already avoids 100 million tons a year of carbon dioxide emissions—a number that will rapidly grow as wind energy scales up to 20 percent of the grid and beyond.
- Wind power is quickly proving to be one of the fastest, cheapest, and largest-scale ways for states to meet the Administration’s new goals for reducing carbon pollution from power plants.
Oak Electric is a leading contractor in Southeast Michigan for the sales, installation and service of Swift and Skystream wind turbine systems.
Oak Electric Service is one of southeast Michigan’s leading electrical and renewable energy contractors. Give us a call at (800) 964-7070. We are standing by to answer all of your residential and commercial electrical questions. We will always personally answer your phone call – you will never reach an answering service! Be sure to ask about our “Free Electrical Safety Inspection” with every job. We invite you to visit our website at www.oakelectric.com to learn more about us.
