Wind farm
New installations place the U.S. on a trajectory to generate 20% of the nation’s electricity by 2030 from wind energy. Growth in 2008 channeled some $17 billion into the economy, positioning wind power as one of the leading sources of new power generation in the country, along with natural gas. Wind projects completed in 2008 accounted for about 42% of the entire new power-producing capacity added in the U.S. during the year.
Wind power in Iowa
Making up more than 35% of the state's generated electricity, Iowa is a leading U.S. state in wind power generation.
The development of wind power in Iowa began with a state law, enacted in 1983, requiring investor owned utilities purchase 105 MW of power from wind generation. In 2016, over 20 billion kWh of electrical energy was generated by wind power, representing 36.6% of in state electricity production. As of February 2016, Iowa had over 6,974 megawatts (MW) of capacity.