Table 31. Land Available for Potential Wind Development by Region
          and State, and Average Megawatts of Wind Generating Capability 

Moderate Land Use and Environmental Restrictions Regions/States Within 10 Miles of Transmission Potential Power Output Area Exposed to Wind at a 50-Meter Hub Height (square kilometers) (megawatts)
Northwest 79,311 101,383 Idaho 1667 2,151 Montana 3,7028 43,753 Oregon 2063 2,724 Washington 2454 3,417 Wyoming 3,6099 49,339 North Central 26,4968 318,813 Iowa 42,425 46,898 Minnesota 43,520 54,020 Nebraska 67,614 72,510 North Dakota 59,125 81,342 South Dakota 52,284 64,043 Great Lakes 14,524 14,990 Illinois 5,753 5,926 Indiana 27 28 Michigan 3,915 4,063 Ohio 333 343 Wisconsin 4,496 4,631 Northeast 14,721 16,099 Connecticut 621 652 Maine 191 294 Massachusetts 2,096 2,225 New Hampshire 417 528 New Jersey 905 993 New York 6,116 6,432 Pennsylvania 4,001 4,491 Rhode Island 50 52 Vermont 324 432 East Central 2,061 2,283 Delaware 249 256 Kentucky 41 42 Maryland 235 256 North Carolina 249 308 Tennessee 140 159 Virginia 652 706 West Virginia 493 555 Southeast 92 107 Alabama 0 0 Florida 0 0 Georgia 51 62 Mississippi 0 0 South Carolina 41 44 South Central 213,085 236,423 Arkansas 1,239 1,305 Kansas 78,369 88,406 Louisiana 0 0 Missouri 3,064 3,156 Oklahoma 50,562 56,270 Texas 79,851 87,285 South Rocky Mountain 32,420 37,604 Arizona 164 190 Colorado 19,067 23,350 New Mexico 12,754 13,262 Utah 435 803 Southwest 4,306 6,371 California 3,753 5,546 Nevada 553 826 Contiguous U.S. Total 625,488 734,073
Note: Potential generating capability is presented in average megawatts per square kilometer. Capacity denoted in average megawatts should not be confused with nameplate capacity in megawatts. The nameplate capacity rating represents peak output at the rated wind speed, while average megawatts is the normalized actual power production (average megawatts multiplied by 8,760 hours per year results in the annual energy production in kilowatthours per year). Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, "U.S. Wind Resources Accessible to Transmission Lines" (August 5, 1994).

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