EcoLocalizer

Texas comes out on top in the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) 2007 rankings of wind energy leaders, not only in its overall total number of wind turbines but in the amount of new capacity added last year.

Texas wind turbines generated 4,446 megawatts of energy in 2007 — enough to power nearly 1.2 million homes. The state added 1,618 megawatts of new wind power capacity last year, more than double the amount of second-place Colorado.

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In terms of total wind power, the top five states last year were Texas, California, Minnesota, Iowa and Washington. States adding the most new wind-energy installations last year were, after Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon and Minnesota.

“The numbers in this year’s rankings … underscore the wind energy industry’s strong growth and the fact that wind is a bright spot in the U.S. economy,” said Randall Swisher, executive director of the AWEA. “Hopefully, federal policymakers will take note and move quickly to extend the wind production tax credit (PTC) incentive, providing the foundation for further investment and job creation going forward.”

True to its reputation for doing everything big, Texas also takes the lead in the largest wind-energy installations operating in the U.S. The country’s biggest wind farms are in Horse Hollow, Texas (736 megawatts); Sweetwater, Texas (585 megawatts); Peetz Table, Colorado (401 megawatts); Capricorn Ridge, Texas (364 megawatts); and Buffalo Gap, Texas (353 megawatts).

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