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Wind power refers to useful energy extracted from wind. The cost of wind-generated electric power is plummeting, and is much lower than the cost and externalities of fuel-generated electric power, and lower than the cost alone. Since 2004, wind power has been the least expensive form of new power generation. Wind power is growing quickly, at about 37%, up from 25% growth in 2002. In the United States, as of 2003, wind power was the fastest growing form of electricity generation on a percentage basis . In the late-1990s, the cost of wind power was about five times what it is in 2005, and that downward trend is expected to continue as larger multi-megawatt turbines are mass-produced. Energy Department studies have concluded wind harvested in just three of the fifty U.S.A. states could provide enough electricity to power the entire country, and that offshore wind farms could do the same job.

Wind energy is emerging as a centerpiece of the new energy economy because it is abundant, inexpensive, inexhaustible, widely distributed, clean, and mitigates the greenhouse effect. Rural communities welcome wind farms because they provide income to farmers and ranchers, skilled jobs, cheap electricity, and additional tax revenue to upgrade schools and maintain roads. Wind power could grow by 50% in the U.S. in 2006.

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