2018 has been the strongest year so far for the wind power industry in the United States. Year on year, the country’s wind energy capacity grew 8% with roughly 96.4 Megawatts. That’s enough clean energy to power more than 26 million homes.
This is undoubtedly good news to national and local governments, whose lofty sustainable energy goals for the year 2030 are quickly coming within reach. Another big question in people’s minds, though, is what these developments mean to the average consumer and worker.
A Hundred Thousand Additional Jobs in the Wind Energy Sector
The advancing wind energy industry has been pouring in 142 billion USD to new projects in the last decade. It currently supports more than 500 domestic factories and provides jobs to more than 114,000 workers in the United States.
And the numbers are growing.
Even with its record growth in the past year, wind currently comprises only 6.5% of the total energy sources in the US. The government’s goal is to harness the wind to provide for at least 20% of energy demand by 2030.
There is no shortage of demand for it either. Mega companies like Facebook, Exxon, AT&T, Walmart, and Shell are already using the existing technology to power part of their operations.
There will inevitably be more wind farms and more jobs to operate, support, and sustain them.
Accessible Social Services and Infrastructures
The government rakes in roughly a billion USD each year from the state and local taxes paid by wind farms. In rural areas where these wind farms are located, government revenues go into assisting schools, improving roads, and funding emergency services for communities in the area.
Even the lease payments paid by wind energy companies to landowners serve as a safety blanket for ranchers and farmers during droughts and scant seasons.
Communities as a whole, as opposed to select individuals, benefit from this new form of power source.
Stable Costs and Reliable Power Supply
Until imported traditional fuels are no longer the main source of energy, there will always be national insecurity from volatile oil prices in the international market. This instability is often passed on to the end users. In contrast, wind power lets a country generate energy within its territory using domestic resources. This, in turn, helps regulating bodies and providers to maintain stable prices and supply.
This stabilizing shift is already starting, with 65% of US congressional districts already having access to wind-harnessed electricity. Home and business owners can worry less about fluctuating energy prices and power shortages cutting into their income and efficiency.
Wind Energy Helps Push Sustainable Electricity as the New Norm
Advanced wind-harnessing technology makes clean energy more affordable and harmful traditional energy easier to irradicate. Without question, this is the right direction for countering global warming.
More than that, the shift towards wind energy creates financial security to workers, consumers, and whole communities. More importantly, the greater access to clean sources of energy lets consumers meet their electricity needs using sources that are compatible with their environmentally sustainable lifestyle.