May 4, 2012
A new picture is emerging in the U.S. power sector. While electricity generation from coal peaked in 2007 and nuclear generation fell between 2007 and 2011, wind-generated electricity grew by a whopping 36 percent each year over the same period. Multiple factors underlie this nascent shift in U.S. electricity production including the global recession, increasing energy efficiency, and more economically recoverable domestic natural gas. But ultimately it is the increasing attractiveness of wind as an energy source that will drive it into prominence.