U.S. Wind Power Quadruples in 2014 as Texas Leads Installations

Installations of wind turbines in the U.S. more than quadrupled last year led by growth in Texas, as developers took advantage of an expiring federal tax credit, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Developers completed 4,850 megawatts of wind farms, up from 1,087 megawatts that went into service in 2013, the Washington-based trade group said today in a statement. More than 1,100 megawatts were installed in Texas. The U.S. now has more than 65 gigawatts of wind power capacity, second only to China’s 96 gigawatts. At year-end there was more than 12,700 megawatts of capacity under construction, the majority in Texas.