Montana can meet the terms of the plan – and protect Montanans’ health and wallets in the process – by pulling the clean energy it needs literally out of thin air. The Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. has now accumulated power purchase agreements for a total of 309 MW of wind power for rural electric customers in the state, and the public utility AEP-Swepco has invested in almost 470 MW of wind for its customers in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.

No one would disagree that wind- and solar-generated power are important sources of clean energy – but so is nuclear power. Today, on average more than 70 percent of wind turbine equipment installed in the U.S. was made by domestic manufacturers.

Whilst prices decline, a key know-how development helps additional advance the sector. Because of previous investments in wind manufacturing, competitive wind power in neighboring states and investment in our transmission infrastructure, Arkansas is well-positioned to take full advantage of the cost savings and job creation opportunities resulting from continued expansion of wind energy generation.

“At 2.35 cents per kilowatt hour, wind is cheaper than the typical worth of wholesale electrical energy in lots of elements of the nation”, stated Ryan Wiser of Lawrence Berkeley Nationwide Laboratory, a lead writer of the brand new report. Iowa and South Dakota generate almost 30 percent of their electricity year-round from wind.

And while conventional power plants can suddenly trip off, the gradual and predictable changes in wind power are far easier to accommodate. In addition to LM Wind Power, Arkansas has several steel fabrication companies, wire and cable manufacturers and bearing manufacturers that are part of the growing wind supply chain. There are already 73,000 workers in the U.S. wind industry, including up to 500 in Montana.

The studies being launched – together with the 2014 Wind Applied sciences Market Report, revealed by Lawrence Berkeley Nationwide Laboratory – recommend that wind is being put in at a speedy price, its prices are plummeting, its applied sciences are advancing and it’s making a rising variety of jobs. Because wind power does not produce smog or other airborne pollutants, it’s better for our health.

It’s all part of a bigger picture in which since 2007, a third of new electricity generating capacity in the U.S. has been from wind. And right on time, two new reports published last week by the Department of Energy find that one key renewable sector – wind – is booming, a development that can only help matters when it comes to reducing carbon emissions.

Oregon ranks sixth among states for its installed wind capacity, but much of the power isn’t used here. This can help areas affected by water shortages or extreme drought. Renewable energy represents true abundance, because it will never run out.