Energy Department says wind power projects continue in U.S.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The U.S. Department of Energy reports that the continued construction of wind-power generating stations is bringing down both the cost of building the installations and the price for wind-generated electricity.

The report released Thursday shows Texas leads the nation with 22 gigawatts of wind capacity, followed by Oklahoma, Iowa, California and Kansas with each at more than 5,000 megawatts.

A gigawatt is 1 billion watts of power, a megawatt is 1 million watts.

The report says wind energy provided 6.3 percent of the nation’s electricity supply in 2017

The average price for wind power has fallen from 7 cents per kilowatt hour in 2009 to about 2 cents per kilowatt hour in 2017.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration says the average home in the U.S. uses 897 kilowatt hours per month.