Wind power in Pennsylvania

Wind power is environmentally friendly. It is efficient to create and sustain because it creates 31 times more energy than it requires during the manufacturing process and over its 20-year lifetime.

If all wind energy potential in Pennsylvania were developed with utility-scale wind turbines, the power produced each year would be enough to supply 6.4% of the state's current electricity consumption. In 2016, the state had 1369 megawatts (MW) of wind powered electricity generating capacity, responsible for 1.6% of in-state electricity production. This increased to 1459 MW in 2020.

History

In 2000, Pennsylvania's first commercial wind farm, the Green Mountain Wind Energy Center, was completed in Somerset County, but deactivated in 2015.

In 2006, the state legislature ruled that wind turbines and related equipment may not be included in property-tax assessments. Instead, the sites of wind facilities are assessed for their income-capitalization value.

In 2007, Montgomery County became the first wind-powered county in the nation, with a two-year commitment to buy 100 percent of its electricity from a combination of wind energy and renewable energy credits derived from wind energy.

Voluntary agreements with wind energy companies in Pennsylvania have been signed by The Pennsylvania Game Commission to avoid, minimize, and potentially mitigate any adverse impacts the development and production of wind energy may have on the state's wildlife resources.

Many smaller wind farms in Pennsylvania are operated by NextEra Energy Resources, based in Florida.