Everyone Knows It's Windy
It's Getting Hot in Herre

Jerome a Paris over at the European Tribune has a very good post (with lots of pretty charts and graphs) about the good news in wind-powered energy here in the US. Here's the intro to the AWEA press release:

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) stated today in its Third Quarter Market Report that the U.S. wind energy industry will install about 2,500 megawatts (MW) of new wind power this year, a record amount that will help lower skyrocketing home heating and electric bills by reducing the demand for natural gas. Wind energy projects also bring new jobs, rural economic development, and tax revenues to cash-strapped states without creating any of the harmful side-effects associated with conventional power generation.

According to AWEA's assessment of the wind energy market, the building boom that is underway could bring the cumulative total of U.S. installed wind capacity to over 9,200 MW, serving the equivalent of 2.4 million average U.S homes. One megawatt of new wind energy is enough electricity to power 270-300 homes.

The industry has been in fits and starts over the last few years, as Jerome explains:

The collapse of the industry in both 2002 and 2004 was due to the expiry of the federal mechanism which supports renewable energy, the PTC, a tax credit of 1.9 cents/kWh given to renewable energy producers for the first 10 years of production. In 2001, Congress renewed the mechanism - for just two years - just a few months before its expiry at the end of the year. In 2003, it was not renewed until October 2004 (and then just till then end of 2005), but it was extended to the end of 2007 recently, thus ensuring that the next 3 years will see a number of projects developped.

Let's hope the government keeps the PTC more consistent. Jerome also points out two great framing devices for wind power:

[...] the industry can provide a LOT of jobs. The AWEA, the industry association, estimates that the construction of 50 GW of wind power (8 times the current installed capacity, but only 50% more than Europe's existing capacity) would create 150,000 jobs over the next 5-10 years.

10 MW bring about 40 jobs over one year and 2 full time jobs over 20 years, or 80 man-years.

The other argument these days, as I wrote last week, is that wind power today is actually helping to lower electricity costs for utilities in a context of high gas prices. The subsidy is still needed for the time being as wind power needs 10-15 years of stable high prices to pay for the initial investment, but the required level is now below market prices - if these last, then wind will NOT need subsidies of any kind at all. The good news for now is that production costs do not vary with fuel costs, and those utilities that have purchased wind power - and sold it on to their users under special plans, can keep their prices low today.