Wind power in the United States
The 2011 NREL report, "Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States", analyzes the current state of the offshore wind energy industry. According to the report, offshore wind resource development would help the country to achieve 20% of its electric power from wind by 2030 and to revitalize the manufacturing sector. Offshore wind could supply 54 gigawatts of capacity to the nation's electrical grid, thereby increasing energy security. It could also generate an estimated $200 billion in new economic activity and create thousands of permanent jobs. NREL’s report concludes that "the development of the nation’s offshore wind resources can provide many potential benefits, and that offshore wind energy could play a vital role in future U.S. energy markets".
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."