Wind power took steps to become a major mainstream energy source in the United States in 2012, according to a report released Thursday.
A total of 13,131 megawatts of new wind power was installed with 6,700 new wind turbines, making 2012 the largest year in U.S. history, the American Wind Energy Association reported. Those projects had a price tag of $25 billion and can power 3.5 million houses.
Those megawatts were nearly twice what was added in 2011, when 3,500 turbines went on line, the association said in its 2012 market report.
A megawatt is enough electricity to power from 600 to 1,000 houses.
That increased America’s wind capacity to 60,007 megawatts with 890 utility-scale wind projects with more than 45,000 wind turbines in 39 states and Puerto Rico, said the 108-page report. That’s enough electricity to power 15.2 million American houses.
Wind also was the largest source of new electric-generating capacity in the U.S. with 42 percent of all new capacity in 2012, said the association, a trade group based in Washington, D.C.
Overall, wind produces 3.5 percent of America’s power, and 74 utilities acquired wind-powered electricity in 2012, the report said.
Ohio trailed only Nevada, Puerto Rico, New Hampshire and Alaska for fastest growth of wind capacity. Ohio has 428 megawatts of wind power, enough to produce 0.8 percent of the state’s electricity.
The top states for wind power are Texas, California and Iowa. Illinois is fourth; New York is 12th; Indiana, 13th; and Pennsylvania, 15th. Ohio ranks 26th.
Two of the biggest Ohio projects are in Van Wert and Paulding counties, where $775 million has been invested in 200 installed wind turbines. They are producing 400 megawatts of power.
Seven additional wind projects are shovel-ready in Ohio, awaiting long-term sales agreements with utilities, association spokeswoman Dayna Baird Payne said.
Those projects are valued at $1.6 billion and could produce 800 megawatts of power, she said.
Wind power produces nearly 25 percent of the electric power in Iowa and South Dakota.
Ohio is a big player in the wind power supply chain, ranking first for companies involved. Overall, the state ranks 12th for wind supply-chain jobs in 2012.
Nationally, wind power supports 80,700 full-time jobs, the association says.
Perhaps the biggest development in 2012 was getting Congress to approve a one-year extension on the federal production and investment tax credit for wind projects that start this year, association research analyst Emily Williams said in a telephone interview.
The tax credit was approved, despite strong Republican opposition, but the debate and the resulting uncertainty had a chilling effect on wind development in late 2012, Williams said, and the industry is going to have to gear up again in 2013.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.