Wind Powering America Fact Sheet Series

1 Wind energy is more expensive than conventional energy.Wind’s variability does increase the day-to-day and minute-tominute operating costs of a utility system because the wind variations 

do affect the operation of other plants. But investigations by utility 

engineers show these costs to be relatively small—less than about 

2 mills/kilowatt-hour (kWh) at penetrations under 5% and possibly 

rising to 5 mills at 20% penetration. In fact, when the Colorado Public 

Service Commission issued a ruling in 2001 on the 161-megawatt 

(MW) wind project in Lamar, Colorado, the commission determined that 

wind energy provided the lowest cost of any new generation resource 

submitted to an Xcel Energy solicitation bidding process (except for one 

small hydro plant). The commission also noted that unlike the other 

generation resources considered, the Lamar project avoided the risk 

of future increased fuel prices.1 And in a recent landmark study of 

wind integration into the New York State electric power system, a 

10% addition of wind generation (3,300 MW of wind in a 34,000-MW 

system) actually projected a reduction in payments by electricity 

customers of $305 million in one year.2

2 Wind energy requires a production tax credit (PTC) to 

achieve these economics. True, but every energy source 

receives significant federal subsidies; it is disingenuous to expect wind 

energy to compete in the marketplace without the incentives enjoyed 

by established technologies.3

3 The production tax credit and accelerated depreciation are 

helpful only to big, out-of-state developers. The economic 

benefits aren’t local, and rural electric cooperatives and 

municipal utilities can’t receive the same benefits. It’s true that 

only entities that pay federal taxes can use the tax credits to reduce 

their tax liability. But those tax credits result in lower wind energy costs 

for the benefit of all electricity customers. However, if local entities 

assume equity positions in wind plants, then they can receive the tax 

credit benefits. Whether or not the wind-plant equity is locally held, 

wind plants result in jobs for the local community and the need for 

local services—both during construction and during operation. 

Additionally, the added county and state taxes and the landowner 

lease payments directly benefit the local and state economies. And 

to the extent that debt financing comes from local sources, debtservice payments stay within the local community.

Also, in some cases farmers have joined together in a cooperative 

arrangement to build and own wind plants. In aggregate, their tax 

liability can be sufficient to make full use of the tax credits.4

4 Wind energy is unpredictable and must be “backed up” 

by conventional generation. No power plant is 100% reliable. 

During a power plant outage—whether a conventional plant or a wind 

plant—backup is provided by the entire interconnected utility system.

The system operating strategy strives to make best use of all elements 

of the overall system, taking into account the operating characteristics 

of each generating unit and planning for contingencies such as plant 

or transmission line outages. The utility system is also designed to 

accommodate load fluctuations, which occur continuously. This feature 

also facilitates accommodation of wind plant output fluctuations. In 

Wind Energy Myths

Wind Energy Myths

Wind Energy Myths

Craig Cox, Interwest Energy Alliance/PIX11929

When the Colorado Public Service Commission issued a ruling in 2001 on the 

161-MW wind project in Lamar, Colorado (pictured above), the commission 

determined that wind energy provided the lowest cost of any new generation 

resource submitted to an Xcel Energy solicitation bidding process (except for 

one small hydro plant).
Top photo page 1: © GE Wind Energy All Rights Reserved/PIX12335

A Strong Energy Portfolio for a Strong America

Energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy will mean a stronger economy, a cleaner 

environment, and greater energy independence for America. Working with a wide array of state, 

community, industry, and university partners, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in a diverse portfolio of energy technologies. 

For more information contact:

EERE Information Center

1-877-EERE-INF (1-877-337-3463)

www.eere.energy.gov

Produced for the U.S. Department of Energy by the 

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a DOE national laboratory

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at 

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Denmark, Northern Germany, and parts of Spain, wind supplies 20% 

to 40% of electric loads without sacrificing reliability. When wind is 

added to a utility system, no new backup is required to maintain 

system reliability.

5 If wind energy displaces energy from existing coal plants, then rates will go up. Rates for electricity from wind plants 

being installed today are comparable to wholesale electric power 

prices of 2.5¢ to 3.5¢/kWh. The incremental cost of wind power, if any, 

will be negligible when distributed among all customers. A number of 

studies have examined the rate impacts of wind and have considered 

the costs of various renewable portfolio standard percentages from 

5% to 10%, and average residential bill impacts are predicted to range 

from a savings to a premium of 25¢/month. In fact, some studies 

predict the accompanying decrease in demand for conventional fuels 

will reduce fuel prices enough to fully compensate for slightly higher 

costs for renewables. In the New York study mentioned above, wind 

displaced energy from both coal and natural gas plants. Rates 

decreased, and harmful emissions from the coal and gas plants were 

reduced as well.5

6 New natural gas power plants provide cheaper energy than wind plants. This is not likely with today’s rising gas prices. At 

$3/MBTU, the fuel cost alone is 2.5¢ to 3¢/kWh, and capital and O&M 

costs add a similar amount. Today, gas prices have risen to more than 

$6/MBTU, yielding a fuel cost alone in the 5¢ to 6¢/kWh range. And gas 

prices have spiked to more than $10/MBTU in past years. Betting on 

low gas prices over the foreseeable future is highly risky, while energy 

costs from wind plants will be relatively stable over time. In a recent 

study, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that the natural 

gas “hedge value” of wind could be conservatively estimated to be 

1/2 cent/kWh.6,7

7 Large, utility-grade wind turbines can’t be installed on the distribution grid without expensive upgrades and 

power-quality issues. In situations with weak distribution grids 

(long lines with thin wires and few customers—maybe even singlephase), this can be true. However, in many cases wind generation can 

be connected to the distribution system in amounts up to about the 

rating of the nearest substation transformer. One study of a rural 

Midwestern county estimated that several tens of megawatts of 

turbines could be installed on the local distribution grid with a 

minimum of upgrade expense and minimal power-quality impacts. 

A number of single wind turbines and clusters of turbines are 

currently connected to the distribution system.8

8 Small projects that might be suitable for co-ops or small municipal utilities are not economical. Small projects 

generally have a higher cost per megawatt than larger wind plants, 

as would be expected. However, the incremental costs on customers’ 

bills are likely to be small. The energy premium for a small project is 

unlikely to exceed 50%. If the project provides a small portion of the 

community’s needs—say 2%—then the premium is reduced to about 

1% if distributed among all customers. Some communities view this 

premium as a worthwhile investment to obtain local environmental 

benefits and experience with wind power.

9 Wind turbines kill birds and thus have serious environmental impacts. Bird kills have caused serious 

scientific concern at only one location in the United States: Altamont 

Pass in California, one of the first areas in the country to experience 

significant wind development. Over the past decade, the wind 

community has learned that wind farms and wildlife can and do coexist 

successfully. Wind energy development’s overall impact on birds is 

extremely low (<1 of 30,000) compared to other human-related 

causes, such as buildings, communications towers, traffic, and house 

cats. Birds can fly into wind turbines, as they do with other tall 

structures. However, conventional fuels contribute to air and water 

pollution that can have far greater impact on wildlife and their habitat, 

as well as the environment and human health.

10 Wind turbines are noisy. Modern wind turbines produce very little noise. The turbine blades produce a whooshing 

sound as they encounter turbulence in the air, but this noise tends to 

be masked by the background noise of the blowing wind. An operating 

modern wind farm at a distance of 750 feet to 1000 feet is no more 

noisy than a kitchen refrigerator.

You can find more information on wind energy myths at 

www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/pdfs/wpa/

34600_misconceptions.pdf

_____________

1 www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/pdfs/xcel_wind_

decision.pdf

2 www.nyserda.org/publications/wind_integration_report.pdf

3 For more on energy subsidies, visit www.earthtrack.net

4 Mark Bolinger, A Survey of State Support for Community Wind Power 

Development (http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/EMS/cases/)

5 www.nyserda.org/publications/wind_integration_report.pdf

6 http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/56756.pdf

7 Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Chairman, testimony at Senate committee 

hearing, July 10, 2003

8 Distributed Wind Power Assessment, National Wind Coordinating Committee, 

February 2001, available at www.nationalwind.org