By L.M. Sixel Updated 3:29 pm CST, Monday, December 9, 2019
The nation has reached a new milestone with 100 gigawatts of installed wind energy capacity, with more than half of that installed in just the past seven years, according to the Department of Energy.
The nation has reached a milestone of 100 gigawatts of installed wind energy capacity, with more than half of that installed in the past seven years, according to the Department of Energy. One gigawatt provides enough power for about 700,000 homes.
Texas has the most installed wind capacity of any state at nearly 27 gigawatts, according to the Energy Department. The next closest state is Iowa with nearly 9 gigawatts of wind energy capacity.
Wind energy producers are expected to add another 7.2 gigawatts of capacity this month and another 14.3 gigawatts next year. If that happens, the U.S. will have about 122 gigawatts of wind capacity by the end of 2020, according to the Energy Department.
Forty-one states had at least one installed wind turbine as of the third quarter, according to the Energy Department.
The first wind turbine in the U.S. was installed 44 years ago.
