Visualizing wind capacity, performance across the US

U.S. wind capacity factors jumped a weighted average 3.1 percentage points between 2019 and 2020, with the windy longitudinal corridor running from Texas through North Dakota logging some of the largest increases, helping Southwest Power Pool Inc. post the highest ISO capacity factor average at 42%, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

Operating U.S. wind farms averaged a 35.5% capacity factor in 2020 — more than 11 percentage points higher than their solar renewable energy counterpart. SPP states dominate the wind capacity factor leaderboard for the period, occupying the top nine spots, with Nebraska at the apex, boasting a wind capacity factor of almost 45%. South Dakota, however, experienced the largest year-over-year increase, up more than 14 percentage points. Wind energy behemoth Texas, meanwhile, continued to enjoy a sizable lead in operating wind capacity, dwarfing No. 2 Iowa at a nearly 3-1 ratio.

Electricity-regulated Nebraska, which cleared a jump of 7 percentage points year over year to clinch the wind capacity factor top spot, had a little over 2 GW in operating wind capacity in 2020. The state, however, has more than 5 GW in the pipeline according to Commodity Insights data. Of note, Commodity Insights identified about 1.3 GW of corporate-tied wind capacity in the Cornhusker State. Notable Nebraska wind energy corporate off-takers include Adobe Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., parent company of Facebook, with both companies having power purchase agreements with one of the state's largest wind farms: Enel SpA's 318-MW Rattlesnake Creek Wind in northeastern Nebraska, near the Iowa border.

South Dakota wind capacity factors soared in 2020, averaging just below 40%, with nearly two-thirds of South Dakotan wind projects included in this analysis in 40-plus percent territory. The 97-MW Coyote Ridge Wind Project, co-owned by WEC Infrastructure LLC and Avangrid Renewables LLC, shows the highest wind capacity factor in the Mount Rushmore State in 2020, at an estimated 50.9%. Coyote Wind lies within the Midcontinent ISO footprint. Within SPP, South Dakota's 51-MW Wessington Springs Wind Energy Center — property of Wessington Wind Energy — occupies the No. 1 wind factor spot, at an estimated 50.2%.

South Dakota also regulates its electricity market. The state has one of the oldest renewable portfolio standards, or RPS. Passed by the state legislature in 2008, South Dakota's RPS targeted 10% of retail electric sales procured through renewables by 2015, though it remains a voluntary standard. Today, South Dakota boasts the fourth-highest share of electricity generation from solar and wind developments in the U.S., at an estimated 45.4% based on Commodity Insights' database of operating power plants by fuel type. South Dakota has nearly 3.6 GW in planned wind capacity. This includes the gargantuan 1.4 GW Oceti Sakowin Wind Power Project (Phase 2), co-owned by a group of Native American tribes and Apex Clean Energy Inc.

Texas, long associated with the oil industry, remains the undisputed wind energy king volume-wise. In 2020, the Lone Star State operated more than 26 GW across wind projects included in this analysis. Per Commodity Insights data, Texas is planning an additional 15 GW to its existing wind capacity. Combining high wind potential, a generally business-friendly fiscal environment, and abundant and affordable land, Texas land is fertile soil for wind energy deployment.

Texas surpassed its RPS of 10 GW renewable by 2025 years ago. Today, solar and wind plants account for nearly a third of the state's electric generation park, and Texas is home to some of the largest wind farms in the nation, including NextEra Energy Resources LLC's 736-MW Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center and the 663-MW Capricorn Ridge Wind project, both with capacity factors hovering around 39% in 2020.

^{Regulatory Research Associates is a group within S&P Global Commodity Insights.}

^{S&P Global Commodity Insights produces content for distribution on S&P Capital IQ Pro.}

^{Chris Allen Villanueva, Kristin Larson and Monesa Carpon contributed to this article.}

^{This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.}