Wind share of US energy output rising but widely disparate across states

The share of wind in overall U.S. energy production rose 5.5 percentage points from 2011 through 2020 as generation from the leading U.S. renewable fuel nearly tripled in the interval. Drilling into the data, however, reveals significant disparities across state lines, underscoring, among other things, the long run to net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

At 337.7 million MWh, wind accounted for 8.4% of the U.S. generation output in 2020, up from 2.9% in 2011. Iowa had the largest share of energy production via wind, with the renewable source accounting for 57% of the state's output. Kansas was a relatively distant second at 44%, and South Dakota rounded up the top three at 41%. Texas, the largest holder of wind capacity, derived only one-fifth of its energy from this source. Of note, eight states did not produce wind energy as of 2020.

Iowa and Kansas's leading roles in energy production from wind follow vertiginous inroads from 2011 through 2020, with the Hawkeye and the Sunflower states logging jumps of 38 and nearly 36 percentage points, respectively. Iowa is home to some of the largest wind projects in the nation, including the 444 MW Rolling Hills Wind Farm and the 399 MW Orient Wind Farm (Wind XI) in southwestern Iowa. Both plants are owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary MidAmerican Energy Co.

Typically benefitting from robust wind capacity factors, Iowa operated 9.4 GW in wind capacity in 2020, based on S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Today this figure stands at more than 12 GW, making Iowa the second-largest operator of wind capacity, behind Texas. The state has an additional 4.5 GW of wind capacity in the pipeline. With the established wind projects, Iowa's mandatory renewable portfolio standard requiring the state's investor-owned utilities to purchase energy production from 105 MW in renewable generation capacity has been exceeded for many years.

A back-of-the-envelope calculation keeping Iowa's overall energy production hovering around 60 million MWh — the state generated 56.5 million MWh in 2011 and 59.6 million MWh in 2020 — suggests combined operating and planned wind capacity could produce virtually the entirety of the state's energy.

In comparison, Texas generated only 20% of its overall energy output from 26.5 GW in wind capacity in 2020. Today Texas operates 36 GW in wind capacity, which, based on the rough mathematical approach utilized above, might generate about a quarter of the state's total energy production. Texas has 15.7 GW in planned wind capacity. Notable planned Texas wind developments include Ørsted's 630-MW Ajax Wind Project and FGE Power's 500-MW Goodnight Wind Energy, both to be based in North Texas.

The Lone Star state also has an offshore project in early development: 300-MW Galveston-Offshore Wind, to be operated by Coastal Point Energy LLC. Texas does not have a mandatory RPS, but a goal of 10 GW in renewable capacity by 2025. The state has long exceeded this goal.

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina did not produce wind energy in 2020 and have no operating wind capacity today. That said, combined, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi have 580 MW in planned wind capacity, including Coast Point Energy LLC's 50-MW Vermilion Bay Offshore Wind off the coast of Louisiana.

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