Because Texas is a big state with a lot of people, it really just has a lot of everything. It has America’s largest total quantity of installed wind power, by some distance, virtue of it just being a really big state.
Except, it has a lot of everything else too. Which means wind power isn’t actually as high a proportion as you might think. Which is important, because much of the conservative reaction to the recent Texas blackout has been to place blame on wind power, and frame it as a consequence of Texas rushing ahead. But many other states have far, far higher proportions of wind, in far colder climates.
In fact, in Iowa last November, wind comprised a full 80% of the state’s total energy over the month! The charts below show every US state with more wind power than Texas. These are sourced from the EIA’s data browser. Enjoy!
