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Wind Belt Blows Dollars Into Area Economies by A D A M B R U N S
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Photo: Gett y Images
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nyone who’s ever stood in a Kansas field knows the power of the wind that sweeps unimpeded across most of the state. As renewables of every stripe grow in critical mass across the nation, Kansas aims to play a powerful role at the center of America’s wind belt. The American Clean Power Association’s inaugural annual report, released in August 2021, noted the country welcomed 26,490 megawatts (MW) of new clean power installations in 2020, representing around $39 billion in project investments. Wind power represented 50% of those new installations. And when all clean power sources were tallied, Kansas, with 43.4% of its electricity generated by clean power, was No. 2 in the nation behind only Iowa. Kansas and Iowa are the only two states that generate more than 40% of their electricity with wind power. And like the wind, the momentum shows no signs of abating. Kansas added 916 MW of clean power in 2020, the 10th-highest total in the country. Moreover, the
KANSAS: TO THE STARS
state is No. 5 in the nation in cumulative clean power capacity, at 7,058 MW. The ACPA report noted clean power now employs more than 415,000 Americans, and in 2020 alone paid an estimated $1.7 billion in state and local taxes and nearly $800 million in land lease payments to landowners in mostly rural locations. Those findings were backed by a report released in March 2021 by the Polsinelli law firm’s energy practice group, which since 2012 has partnered with the Kansas Energy Information Network to assess the “Annual Economic Impacts of Kansas Wind Energy.” Among the facts noted in this latest report: • Since 2001, 40 utility-scale wind energy generation projects have been constructed in Kansas. Based on U.S. Department of Energy estimates, the 7,306 MW of wind generation in Kansas created an additional 11,441 jobs during the construction phase of the projects, and an additional 1,315 jobs during the operation phase of the projects.
