The American Wind Energy Assn. (AWEA, Washington, D.C.) announced in early November a substantial increase in the projected installation of new wind energy facilities in 2007. The previous projection, 3,000 megawatts (MW) of new wind-generated electric power capacity in 2007, has been increased to 4,000 MW, easily breaking the 2006 record of 2,454 MW. AWEA reports that new windfarms already have added more than 2,300 MW of generating capacity to the nation’s electrical grid in 2007, with more than 5,000 MW in various stages of construction. (One MW of electricity, on average, serves 250 to 300 households.)

Although this is good news, AWEA warns that the lack of a long-term, national policy that promotes renewable energy development could jeopardize further growth. The federal production tax credit (PTC) for renewable energy will expire in December 2008, and there is no national renewable electricity standard (RES) or other long-term policy set to take its place. The U.S. House of Representatives in August passed a new RES, but that bill has yet to get through the U.S. Senate.

AWEA contends that continuity in the PTC since 2005 has spurred both record-breaking new generating capacity (2,431 MW added in 2005, 2,454 MW in 2006 and 4,000 MW expected in 2007) and a wave of investment in manufacturing facilities and services across the country, even in states that do not have a large wind resource.

In state-by-state reporting, AWEA noted that Texas, again, added the largest amount of new wind power capacity (600 MW). Colorado installed 264 MW and now ranks sixth in U.S. wind power generation. Washington state, with 140 MW of new wind capacity, has pulled ahead of Minnesota into fourth place. Missouri saw the completion of its first utility-scale windfarm, a 56.7-MW project that generates power for electric cooperatives, while utility-scale projects also went online in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Iowa.