Wind Energy

Since 2007 Duke Energy has invested more than $1.75 billion to build its wind power business. The company has approximately 1,000 megawatts of clean, renewable wind energy in commercial operation and an additional 5,500 megawatts in its pipeline of potential wind development projects.

Investing in zero-carbon wind power is one way Duke Energy is trying to reduce its environmental footprint while meeting demand for reliable, affordable and increasingly clean electricity.

Commercial Wind Power Development

Through a series of strategic acquisitions and development projects, Duke Energy has positioned itself as a leader in the field of wind power generation.

Duke Energy entered the wind energy sector in 2007 with the acquisition of Austin, Texas-based Tierra Energy, a leading wind project development company. The purchase brought Duke Energy more than 1,000 megawatts of wind assets under development in the Western and Southwestern United States. Duke Energy finalized its purchase of Catamount Energy, based in Rutland, Vt., in September 2008 to significantly enhance its wind portfolio. The acquisition included a 50 percent stake in the Sweetwater project in Nolan County, Texas – one of the largest wind projects in the country.

Duke Energy Renewables, part of the company's Commercial Businesses, owns and operates a total of 10 wind farms: four in Wyoming, three in Texas, one in Colorado, one in Pennsylvania, and another in Wisconsin. In 2012, Duke Energy Renewables will build and put into operation five new large-scale wind farms totaling 770 megawatts of zero-emission generation. These new wind farms – two in Kansas, two in Texas and one in Pennsylvania – will help us produce enough wind energy to power more than a half-million homes by 2013.

See our Wind Power Projects Fact Sheet for a summary of Duke Energy’s commercial wind farms.

Wind Power in our Retail States

Duke Energy reached an agreement in August 2006 to purchase up to 100 megawatts of wind power capacity at Indiana’s first commercial wind farm in Benton County, Indiana. The 20-year agreement was the first significant, long-term purchase of wind power in Indiana. Duke Energy began purchasing power from the Benton County Wind Farm in April 2008.