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• Value of wind

Why Wind Energy?

In July 2009, Illinois State University’s Center for Renewable Energy issued the results of a study which examined the direct and indirect economic benefits of the 17 major wind projects (totaling 1,118 MW) that are online, or about to go on-line, around the state of Illinois. Click on the following link to view the report. http://renewableenergy.illinoisstate.edu/wind/

In May 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy released a comprehensive report, 20% Wind Energy By 2030: Increasing Wind Energy’s Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply.  It concluded that the U.S. possesses sufficient and affordable wind resources that would enable the nation to obtain 20% of its electricity from wind.  No technological breakthroughs are required and the costs would be modest.

The benefits are far from modest.  Achieving the 20% wind vision will cut greenhouse gas emissions, deliver near-term relief from rising energy prices along with long-term energy price stability, promote our energy security and create hundreds of thousands of new American jobs. 

Benefits of Achieving the 20% Wind Energy by 2030 Vision

Environment

• Reduces carbon dioxide emissions from the electric sector by 25% by 2030. The equivalent of taking 140 million vehicles off the road and nearly single-handedly keeping electric sector emissions at today’s levels, while helping meet growing electricity demand;
• Reduces water consumption in the electric sector by 4 trillion gallons or 17% in 2030, with nearly a third of this reduction occurring in the arid Western states;
• Does not contribute to acid rain, urban smog, mercury contamination or other toxic pollution associated with the extraction, transport, and combustion of fossil fuels.

Economy

Job creation

• Directly stimulates 150,000 domestic jobs in wind turbine manufacturing, installation, operations, maintenance, and management;
• Indirectly generates 350,000 domestic jobs in support of the wind industry, including steel workers, electrical manufacturing workers, accountants, lawyers, and additional positions related to increased local spending.

Rural economic development

• Pays rural land owners more than $600 million a year by 2030 through lease payments that range from $2,000 to $4,000 per megawatt annually;
• Increases property tax revenue in rural communities by as much as $1.5 billion annually by 2030.  These funds can be allocated to schools, infrastructure, medical centers, and other public services.

U.S. Energy Security

• Generates electricity from a domestic, safe, and inexhaustible source;
• Reduces natural gas demand by 50% in the electric sector and 11% overall, relieving supply and price pressure in the domestic natural gas market and potentially reducing future need for imported liquefied natural gas from the Middle East, Russia, or other areas;
• Potentially reduces U.S. reliance on foreign oil by generating electricity that can be used for plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Affordable Cost

• The 20% wind vision would require an initial investment of $43 billion, 2% more than a circumstance in which no new wind energy is installed.  Calculated over time, this expense amounts to about an additional 50 cents per month on an average household electricity bill. 
• The value of fuel savings, economic investments, emission reductions, and other benefits far exceeds that incremental cost.  Examples include:
• $128 billion consumer savings from displacement of variable-priced natural gas-fired generation with fixed-price wind power, according to supplemental analysis.
• $98 billion in consumer savings through reduced exposure to carbon regulation costs, depending on the stringency and timing of future carbon regulation, according to supplemental analysis.