United States wind energy policy
There are currently 5,600 MW of projects under construction in 2011. The U.S. Department of Energy's 2011 report "20% Wind Energy by 2030" envisioned that wind power could supply 20% of all U.S. electricity, which included a contribution of 4% from offshore wind power.
Cost of electricity by source
In 2004, wind energy cost a fifth of what it did in the 1980s, and some expected that downward trend to continue as larger multi-megawatt turbines were mass-produced. capital costs for wind turbines are substantially lower than 2008–2010 but are still above 2002 levels. A 2011 report from the American Wind Energy Association stated, "Wind's costs have dropped over the past two years, in the range of 5 to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour recently... about 2 cents cheaper than coal-fired electricity, and more projects were financed through debt arrangements than tax equity structures last year... winning more mainstream acceptance from Wall Street's banks... Equipment makers can also deliver products in the same year that they are ordered instead of waiting up to three years as was the case in previous cycles... 5,600 MW of new installed capacity is under construction in the United States, more than double the number at this point in 2010. 35% of all new power generation built in the United States since 2005 has come from wind, more than new gas and coal plants combined, as power providers are increasingly enticed to wind as a convenient hedge against unpredictable commodity price moves."