At the end of 2015, the installed capacity of wind power in Washington was 3,075 megawatts (MW) with wind power accounting for 7,101 GWh. [1] In 2016, it reached a generation of 8,041 GWh, comprising 7.1% of the electricity generated in the state. [2] In 2023, it had a capacity of 3,407 MW (with another 600MW under construction), responsible for 7.75% of generation. [3]
Initiative 937 requires electric utilities with 25,000 or more customers to have 15 percent of their power supply generated from new renewable resources – excluding existing hydropower – by 2020. Washington has sales tax exemptions for wind energy. Washington provides utility grants, loans and rebates for wind power. [4]
| Name | Location | Capacity (MW) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windy Point Wind Farm | Klickitat County | 400 | [5] |
| Wild Horse Wind Farm | Kittitas County | 273 | [5] |
| Marengo Wind Farm | Columbia County | 211 | [5] |
| White Creek Wind Farm | Klickitat County | 205 | [5] |
| Big Horn Wind Farm | Klickitat County | 200 | [5] |
| Stateline Wind Farm | Walla Walla County | 177 | [5] |
| Hopkins Ridge Wind Farm | Columbia County | 157 | [6] |
| Lower Snake River Wind Project | Garfield County | 344.7 | [5] |
| Tucannon River Wind Farm | Columbia County | 267 | [7] |
| Palouse Wind Farm | Whitman County | 100 | [8] |
| Nine Canyon Wind Project | Benton County | 95.9 | [9] |
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that Washington has potential to install over 18,000 megawatts of onshore wind power. [10] Washington ranks 24th in its potential for onshore wind generation, [11] and also has the potential to install 120,964 MW of offshore wind generation which could generate 488,025 GWh/year. [12]
Installed wind power capacity in Washington has seen strong growth in recent years and Washington now ranks among the top ten states with the most wind power installed. Wind power accounted for 5.3% of total electricity generated in Washington during 2011. [13]
The table below shows the growth in wind power installed nameplate capacity in MW for Washington from 1999 to 2011. [14]
 |
| Wind power in Washington | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Capacity (MW) [15] [16] [17] | Generation (GWh) | Capacity Factor [18] (%) | Generation (% of total) | |
| 2000 | 0 | ||||
| 2001 | 180.2 | ||||
| 2002 | 228.3 | 418 | 21.9 | ||
| 2003 | 243.9 | 602 | 28.2 | ||
| 2004 | 240.6 | 737 | 35 | ||
| 2005 | 390 | 498 | 15.6 | ||
| 2006 | 818.1 | 1,038 | 14.5 | ||
| 2007 | 1,163.2 | 2,439 | 23.9 | ||
| 2008 | 1,375 | 3,658 | 30.4 | ||
| 2009 | 1,848.9 | 3,571 | 22 | ||
| 2010 [19] | 2,104.4 | 4,475 | 24.3 | 4.6% | |
| 2011 [20] | 2,573 | 6,261 | 27.8 | 5.3% | |
| 2012 [21] | 2,808 | 6,600 | 26.8 | 5.8% | |
| 2013 [22] | 2,808 | 7,003 | 24.5 | 6.2% | |
| 2014 [23] | 3,075 | 7,269 | 26 | 6.3% | |
| 2015 [24] [25] | 3,075 | 7,077 | 26.3 | 6.5% | |
| 2016 | 3,075 | 8,043 | 29.9 | 7.1% | |
| 2017 | 3,075 | 6,925 | 25.7 | ||
| 2018 | 3,075 | 7,899 | 29.3 | ||
| 2019 | 3,085 | 6,679 | 24.7 | 7.33% | |
| 2020 [3] | 3,395 | 9,266 | 28 | ||
| 2021 | 9,298 | ||||
| 2022 | 8,061 | ||||
| 2023 | 7,601 | ||||
| Washington Wind Generation (GWh, Million kWh) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2002 | 418 | 48 | 21 | 51 | 35 | 28 | 33 | 36 | 31 | 34 | 26 | 33 | 42 |
| 2003 | 602 | 28 | 35 | 71 | 76 | 42 | 74 | 61 | 55 | 33 | 42 | 52 | 33 |
| 2004 | 737 | 70 | 59 | 85 | 62 | 72 | 48 | 39 | 47 | 57 | 65 | 58 | 75 |
| 2005 | 498 | 30 | 23 | 56 | 42 | 48 | 63 | 34 | 38 | 40 | 44 | 49 | 31 |
| 2006 | 1,038 | 151 | 81 | 85 | 77 | 73 | 59 | 81 | 53 | 49 | 63 | 184 | 82 |
| 2007 | 2,439 | 151 | 155 | 211 | 197 | 183 | 211 | 156 | 200 | 201 | 206 | 196 | 372 |
| 2008 | 3,658 | 314 | 297 | 361 | 375 | 330 | 397 | 307 | 297 | 170 | 238 | 253 | 319 |
| 2009 | 3,571 | 316 | 144 | 435 | 322 | 330 | 356 | 239 | 345 | 282 | 307 | 334 | 161 |
| 2010 | 4,475 | 221 | 130 | 401 | 619 | 522 | 519 | 422 | 471 | 361 | 348 | 402 | 329 |
| 2011 | 6,261 | 519 | 484 | 513 | 745 | 557 | 637 | 529 | 572 | 367 | 497 | 499 | 342 |
| 2012 | 6,600 | 531 | 511 | 777 | 607 | 682 | 724 | 469 | 484 | 316 | 516 | 345 | 638 |
| 2013 | 7,003 | 502 | 672 | 649 | 890 | 610 | 537 | 568 | 456 | 587 | 350 | 505 | 677 |
| 2014 | 7,269 | 448 | 540 | 754 | 770 | 723 | 783 | 552 | 491 | 517 | 480 | 679 | 532 |
| 2015 | 7,077 | 304 | 492 | 573 | 681 | 524 | 567 | 772 | 717 | 554 | 578 | 608 | 707 |
| 2016 | 8,043 | 438 | 631 | 819 | 699 | 797 | 780 | 735 | 575 | 684 | 606 | 606 | 673 |
| 2017 | 6,925 | 282 | 441 | 650 | 806 | 567 | 772 | 827 | 611 | 528 | 664 | 498 | 279 |
| 2018 | 7,899 | 447 | 863 | 708 | 793 | 751 | 836 | 756 | 819 | 559 | 394 | 516 | 457 |
| 2019 | 6,679 | 315 | 385 | 366 | 764 | 720 | 884 | 819 | 688 | 641 | 519 | 325 | 253 |
| 2020 | 9,265 | 931 | 972 | 915 | 800 | 784 | 745 | 725 | 627 | 501 | 876 | 775 | 614 |
| 2021 | 9,298 | 553 | 1,028 | 798 | 911 | 803 | 703 | 584 | 709 | 673 | 738 | 920 | 887 |
| 2022 | 8,061 | 521 | 792 | 849 | 902 | 941 | 675 | 484 | 579 | 555 | 648 | 590 | 525 |
| 2023 | 7,601 | 631 | 873 | 846 | 780 | 568 | 509 | 478 | 539 | 544 | 547 | 668 | 613 |
| 2024 | 627 | 719 | |||||||||||
Source: [16]
Wind power is a branch of the energy industry that has expanded quickly in the United States over the last several years. From January through December 2023, 425.2 terawatt-hours were generated by wind power, or 10.18% of electricity in the United States. The average wind turbine generates enough electricity in 46 minutes to power the average American home for one month. In 2019, wind power surpassed hydroelectric power as the largest renewable energy source in the U.S.
Wind power in California had initiative and early development during Governor Jerry Brown's first two terms in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The state's wind power capacity has grown by nearly 350% since 2001, when it was less than 1,700 MW. In 2016, wind energy supplied about 6.9% of California's total electricity needs, or enough to power more than 1.3 million households. Most of California's wind generation is found in the Tehachapi area of Kern County, California, with some large projects in Solano, Contra Costa and Riverside counties as well. California is among the states with the largest amount of installed wind power capacity. In recent years, California has lagged behind other states when it comes to the installation of wind power. It was ranked 4th overall for wind power electrical generation at the end of 2016 behind Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. As of 2019, California had 5,973 megawatts (MW) of wind power generating capacity installed.
Making up over 62% of the state's generated electricity in 2022, wind power is the largest source of electricity generation in Iowa. In 2020, over 34 billion kWh of electrical energy was generated by wind power. As of 2022, Iowa has over 12,200 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity with over 6,000 wind turbines, ranking second and third in the nation below Texas respectively.
The U.S. state of Oregon has large wind energy resources. Many projects have been completed, most of them in rural Eastern Oregon and near the Columbia River Gorge. Wind power accounted for 12.1% of the electricity generated in Oregon in 2016.
Wyoming has one of the highest wind power potentials of any state in the United States. In 2019, Wyoming had wind powered electricity generating capacity of 1,589 MW, which produced 9.85% of its electric generation, with an additional 3,753 MW under construction. However, the wind generation in that year was Wyoming's third-lowest in the 2010s. By 2020, wind capacity increased to 2738 MW and 8448 gigawatt-hours of electricity were produced from wind in 2021, more than double 2019 production. Additional wind capacity and needed transmission lines are under construction or planned, despite political headwinds from Wyoming's strong coal and oil sectors.
At the end of 2016, the installed capacity for wind power in Minnesota was 3,500 megawatts (MW). Wind power generated nearly 18 percent of Minnesota’s electricity in 2016, ranking sixth in the nation for wind energy as a share of total electricity generation.
Wind power in Illinois provided nearly 10% of the state's generated electrical power in 2020 powering 1,231,900 homes. At the end of 2020, Illinois had 6,300 megawatts (MW) of wind power installed, ranking fifth among states for installed wind turbine capacity. An additional 1,100 MW of wind power was under construction across the state at the end of 2020.
Wind power in Montana is a growing industry. Montana had over 695 MW of wind generation capability by 2016, responsible for 7.6% of in-state electricity generation.
Wind power in Indiana was limited to a few small water-pumping windmills on farms until 2008 with construction of Indiana's first utility-scale wind power facility, Goodland with a nameplate capacity of 130 MW. As of March of 2024, Indiana had a total of 2,743 MW of wind power capacity installed, ranking it 12th among U.S. states. Wind power was responsible for 4.8% of in-state electricity production in 2016.
In the U.S. State of Kansas, wind power is the largest source of electricity, generating over 41% of the state's electricity in 2019. Kansas has a high potential capacity for wind power, second behind Texas. The most recent estimates (2012) are that Kansas has a potential for 952 GW of wind power capacity yet had only about 5.6 GW installed by year end 2018. Kansas could generate 3,102 TW·h of electricity each year, which represents over 75% of all the electricity generated in the United States in 2011. This electricity could be worth $290 billion per year.
Renewable energy in South Dakota involves production of biofuels and generation of electricity from renewable sources of energy such as wind and hydropower. South Dakota is among the states with the highest percentage of electricity generation from renewable resources, typically over 70 percent. In 2011, South Dakota became the first U.S. state to have at least 20% of its electricity generation come from wind power.
The wind generation potential in the United States far exceeds demand. North Dakota, the windiest state, has the capacity to install 200,000 MW at 50% capacity factor 100 m (330 ft)-high turbines. Texas, although not as windy, is larger, and has the capacity to install 250,000 MW at 50% capacity factor, and 1,757,355.6 MW of at least 35% capacity factor, capable of generating 6,696,500 GWh/year, more than all of the electricity generated in the United States in 2010.
North Dakota is a leading U.S. state in wind power generation. The state generated 26.8% of its electricity from wind during year 2017, enough to power over one million homes.
Wind power in Michigan is a developing industry. The industrial base from the automotive industry has led to a number of companies producing wind turbine parts in the state. The development of wind farms in the state, however, has lagged behind. In January 2021, there were a total of 1,481 wind turbines in the state with a nameplate capacity of 2,549 MW. The nameplate total exceeded 2,000 MW when Pine River came online in March 2019. Wind provided 4.2% of the state's electricity in 2016.
The state of South Dakota is a leader in the U.S. in wind power generation with over 30% of the state's electricity generation coming from wind in 2017. In 2016, South Dakota had 583 turbines with a total capacity of 977 megawatts (MW) of wind generation capacity. In 2019, the capacity increased to 1525 MW.
The U.S. State of Oklahoma has high potential capacity for wind power in the western half of the state. In 2021, Oklahoma's installed wind generation capacity was almost 10,500 megawatts, supplying over 40% of the state's generated electricity and 85% of Oklahoma's total generating capacity from all renewable resources.
Wind power in Idaho could generate more energy than the state uses.
As of the end of 2021, New Mexico had 4,001 megawatts (MW) of wind powered electricity generating capacity, responsible for 30% of electricity produced that year. Wind power in New Mexico has the potential to generate more than all of the electricity consumed in the state.
Wind power in Hawaii is produced by the state's 132 commercial wind turbines, totaling 236 MW in capacity. In 2015, wind turbines produced 6.4% of Hawaii's electricity. In 2012, Hawaii generated 367 million kWh from wind power.
Wind power in Nebraska remains largely untapped in comparison with its potential. In the Great Plains, with more than 47,000 farms and open skies it ranks near the top in the United States in its ability to generate energy from wind. As of 2015, the state had not adopted a renewable portfolio standard. Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) is one of the state's largest purchasers of wind energy.
| Wind power by state |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Large wind farms | ||
| Offshore wind farms |
| |
| Wind power companies | ||
