Iowa, Texas and South Dakota

Stunning Fact: Iowa And South Dakota Get Nearly 25% Of Their Electricity From Wind And Have Power Prices Up To 20% Below National Average

by John Hanger  

Iowa and South Dakota lead the nation in the portion of their electricity coming from wind power, with both reaching nearly a truly windy 25%. Though Texas gets a smaller portion of its electricity from wind power--nearly 10%--Texas has installed the most wind power capacity in the country. At over 12,000 megawatts, if Texas were a nation, Texas would rank 6th in the world in wind power capacity.

In some quarters, the claim is regularly advanced that wind power or renewable energy means higher prices and so the question becomes, how do electricity prices compare in Iowa, South Dakota and the Texas to the national average?

As of January 2013, electricity prices in Iowa, South Dakota, and Texas were below the national average.
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_5_06_b. In fact, they were well below the national average of 9.66 cents per kilowatt-hour. Electricity prices were 7.78, 8.12, and 8.61 cents per kilowatt-hour in Iowa, South Dakota, and Texas respectively.

What does that prove? A state can rely on wind for 25% of its electricity and still have electric prices nearly a full 2 cents per kilowatt-hour or about 20% below the national average.