AWEA: Wind Energy Leaders Remain Dominant in 2007 U.S. Market Rankings

April 9, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

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The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) annual rankings of wind power leadership in the U.S for 2007 closely resemble the 2006 rankings, said the association.

The rankings, published in the AWEA 2008 Annual Rankings Report, are based on numbers compiled at the end of 2007.

The leaders include:

• Texas for leading all states in both total and new wind power.
• FPL Energy for operating the U.S.'s largest wind farms.
• General Electric (GE) Energy for capturing the largest U.S. market share for wind turbines.
• Xcel Energy for boasting more wind on its system than any other investor-owned utility.

According to AWEA, the categories were broadened this year allowing several new front runners. The new leaders include:

• Iowa for leading the U.S. in wind generation on a percentage basis, obtaining 5.5% of electricity from the renewable energy source.
• Great River Energy and CPS Energy for leading rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities, respectively.
• Manufacturer Vestas for building the largest installed turbines in the U.S.

According to AWEA, total installed U.S. wind power capacity is over 16,800 megawatts (MW), enough to serve the equivalent of 4.5 million average households. For the past three years wind has been the second largest source of new electrical capacity in the U.S., behind natural gas.

AWEA credits the industry's expansion to the stability of the renewable energy production tax credit (PTC), which is set to expire at the end of 2008.

Previous short-term extensions led to a boom-and-bust cycle in the wind industry, increasing costs along the entire supply chain and preventing businesses from growing to their full potential. Studies indicate that an expiration of the tax credit will place $19B in renewable energy investment and 116,000 American jobs at risk, said AWEA.

"As a clean, domestic renewable energy source, wind power is a key part of the solution to many of the most serious economic, environmental and energy security problems our country faces," said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher.

The full AWEA 2008 Annual Rankings Report is available on the AWEA web site.

Source: American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).