Investments in and development of wind power in the US are very unevenly distributed. That is shown in four animated maps at Vox in their article, the stunningly lopsided growth of wind power in the US, in 4 maps. They explore why a huge swath of the country has almost no wind turbines at all.
[...] The major driver to invest in wind in many states is renewable portfolio standards, which mandate a minimum amount of electricity to come from renewable sources, like hydroelectric, wind, solar, and geothermal power plants. While federal incentives like the production tax credit, which benefits wind energy installations, apply across the country, state-level programs make a major difference on the ground.
“The states that have stronger RPSs are the places where you see renewables being deployed more actively,” said Ian Baring-Gould, a technology deployment manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “In places that don’t have RPSs, the utilities don’t have as much motivation to develop renewables.”
Take a wild guess which states don’t have RPSs
Wind speeds are not even around the country, so turbine distribution is not expected to be either. However, there is a long way to go before the turbine distribution reaches parity with the potential.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 07 2018, @01:15AM (2 children)
You should continue on with the links on that page.
https://www.ceoe.udel.edu/research/affiliated-programs/wind-power-program/mapping-resources/map-intro [udel.edu]
The third page in is this - https://www.ceoe.udel.edu/research/affiliated-programs/wind-power-program/mapping-resources/overlay-wind-and-depth [udel.edu]
All of the yellow on that page is suitable for wind power generation, with today's technology. That is, the wind is about 7.5 mph, and the depth of the water is between 20 and 30 feet. That yellow band doesn't look like a lot, until you consider the scale of the map. Literally tens of thousands of wind generators could be built within that area. It is noted within the article that as technology advances, and as we become capable of building in deeper waters, that yellow band will grow substantially.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 07 2018, @01:54AM (1 child)
I live in one of those states. I would not even bother building them at this time. Most of our power is hydro and NG. They build thousands of dams across the state to feed the now nonexistant textile and tobacco industries. We are per megawatt one of the lower states. Our rates are only as high as they are to maintain the existing infrastructure (5-8 cents per depending on area, demand, and taxes).
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday May 07 2018, @07:03PM
Uh-Oh ... Don't you know about saying Candyman or Beetlejuice too many times ?
HIDE YOUR OUTLETS ! Here come the cryptominers !!!