Texas, Oklahoma among top wind power generators

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) maintains Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Kansas generated more than half of the nation’s 275 million megawatt hours (MWh) wind power electricity last year.

The EIA said North Dakota and Colorado accounted for another 20 percent of total wind generation in the country.

Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Kansas have benefited from having some of the best wind resources in the country, per the EIA, in addition to relatively low wind farm construction costs. Each of the states has either mandatory or voluntary renewable portfolio standards (RPS)
encouraging the installation of wind capacity.

Texas has accounted for over 25 percent of the nation’s wind electricity generation in each of the past three years with most wind generating capacity in Texas is located in the rural northern and western areas of the state.

Oklahoma became one of the top four wind generating states in 2013, accounting for just over 10 percent of total wind generation in 2018.

Iowa wind generation has more than doubled since 2011 and over that period coal-fired generation decreased from a peak of more than 40 million MWh to less than 29 million MWh.

Kansas became the fourth-largest wind generating state in 2016, with wind turbines accounting for 36 percent of the electricity generated in the state last year, a larger share than any other state, and behind only natural gas’s share of the total at 39 percent.