Midwest still leads in wind production; Southeast added no new projects last year

Iowa led the country in percentage of electricity derived from wind last year but still ranks second behind Texas in total wind-power capacity, says the latest report released by the industry's trade group. The data from the American Wind Energy Association revealed Iowa produced 14.2 percent of its electricty from wind in 2009, and Texas led states with 9,000 megawatts of wind power production, Peter Behr and Jenny Mandel of Environment & Energy Daily report. Nationwide, over 10,000 megawatts of capacity from wind was added in 2009 and almost 2 percent of all U.S. electricty came from wind.

"Jobs, business opportunities, clean air, energy security -- wind power is delivering today on all those fronts for Americans," Denise Bode, CEO of AWEA, told reporters. "Our annual report documents an industry hard at work and on the verge of explosive growth if the right policies -- including a national renewable electricity standard -- are put in place." The report shows wind development remains concentrated in the Great Plains and Pacific Coast states, while the Southeast came up empty on the map of new wind projects. (Read more)