In 2013, 12 states accounted for 80 percent of US wind-generated electricity, according to preliminary generation data from the US Energy Information Administration. Texas was again the top wind power state with nearly 36 million MWh. Iowa was second, with more than 15 million MWh, followed by California, Oklahoma, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon, Colorado, Washington, North Dakota and Wyoming.
These 12 states produced a combined 134 million MWh of electricity from wind. Nationwide, 167 million MWh of power came from wind in 2013, a 19 percent increase from 2012. Wind power increased its share of US total electricity generation in 2013 from 3.5 percent to 4.1 percent. All but 13 states reported to EIA some generation from wind, and 23 states increased their wind generation more than 10 percent above 2012 production levels.
California’s wind generation exceeded geothermal generation for the first time in 2013. The proportion of wind to total electricity generated varied widely by state. Leading the nation in wind generation share was Iowa with 27.4 percent of net electricity production coming from wind turbines. Second was South Dakota, at 26 percent. Other states with more than twice the national share of 4.1 percent wind power were Kansas, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Colorado, Oregon, Wyoming, and Texas.
Conversely, a recent report from Navigant Research found that installations of new wind plants in the United States dropped by 93 percent in 2013, triggered by lack of policy consistency and a failure to renew the production tax credit (PTC), says the report.