Iowa Fares Well in New Wind-Energy Report

A report released by the American Wind Energy Association finds that Iowa leads the nation in terms of percentage of electricity from wind power, getting 14 percent of its power from the wind, and also leads in highest number of jobs in the manufacturing sector.

Texas consolidated its lead in wind capacity and in largest wind farms installed, with Iowa ranked second in installed wind capacity. California is third.

According to the report, the U.S. wind energy industry installed more than 10,000 megawatts (MW) of new wind power generating capacity in 2009, the largest year in U.S. history, and enough to power the equivalent of 2.4 million homes or generate as much electricity as three large nuclear power plants.  

In industry rankings, GE Energy remained No. 1 in U.S. wind turbine sales; NextEra Energy Resources continued to lead in wind farm ownership; and Xcel Energy continued to lead utilities in wind power usage. 

There are 36 states that have utility-scale wind projects and 14 states are in the have more than 1,000 MW of installed wind capacity per state.

The report's section on manufacturing shows that in spite of a slowdown in wind turbine manufacturing in 2009 compared to 2008, 10 new manufacturing facilities came online in the U.S. last year, 20 were announced, and nine facilities were expanded. The largest category was wind turbine sub-components, such as bearings, electrical components and hydraulic systems.

Approximately 85,000 people are employed in the wind industry in areas like turbine component manufacturing, construction and installation of wind turbines, wind turbine operations and maintenance, legal and marketing services, transportation and logistical services, and more.  To educate those workers, 205 educational programs offer a certificate, degree or coursework related to wind energy.