U.S. adds 1,400 megawatts of new wind-energy capacity

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The United States added nearly 1,400 megawatts of new wind-energy capacity during the second quarter of 2008, providing enough electricity to power more than 400,000 homes, according to an industry report released Wednesday.

The American Wind Energy Association said new wind turbines this year will generate some 7,500 megawatts of additional electricity, far surpassing the 5,249 megawatts installed in 2007.

Wind power accounted for more than one-third of the new electric generating capacity installed in the United States in 2007, and the industry is projected to grow at a 45 percent pace for the second straight year, said Randall Swisher, the association's executive director.

"We're past the point of wind being a marginal player," Swisher said.

Utah's first utility-sale wind facility began operating this summer. Edison Mission Group Inc., based in Irvine, Calif., is operating the 19-megawatt, nine-turbine facility at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon and selling the power to PacifiCorp.

The only other wind-energy project in Utah is two turbines at Camp Williams that together produce less than one megawatt. However, First Wind LLC, based in Newton, Mass., plans to build 159 turbines across 40 square miles of public and private land 10 miles northeast of Milford, Beaver County. The project will generate 300 megawatts of electricity, which the company plans to sell to Southern California. The so-called Milford Wind Corridor received approval this week from the Bureau of Land Management.

A financial bailout package passed by Congress and signed by President Bush earlier this month provided an eight-year extension of investment tax credits for the solar industry but gave just a one-year extension of production tax credits for the wind industry.

Swisher said wind advocates were disappointed they couldn't secure a more long-term policy, but the industry will work with a new administration headed by either Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain on a stable five-year tax credit extension and a federal renewable energy standard.

The government, utilities and financiers will also have to come together to build a nationwide network of high voltage lines that will provide a backbone so the country can fully access its wind potential.