At this time last year, the credit markets had seized up and it seemed very possible that Illinois' wind industry might be heading for a major slowdown. But the Prairie State defied those predictions, adding more wind capacity in 2009 than all but four other states. The news comes via the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) latest report (PDF), released today. By adding 632 megawatts of wind power, Illinois ranked as the seventh largest wind-producing state in the nation.

Illinois Wind Energy Association (IWEA) director Kevin Borgia tells us that AWEA may have low-balled the numbers in estimating that the Prairie State is now churning out 1,547 megawatts of wind power. By his count, Illinois produces roughly 1,800 megawatts, which would bump the Prairie State's production ranking up two spots in the AWEA ranking. The discrepancy comes because the report does not include the 300 megawatt Cayuga Ridge project in their survey of up-and-running projects. (Borgia attributes this to the fact that "not every single tower was operational and spinning" last year.)

Either way, Illinois lawmakers certainly deserve credit for adopting forward-thinking energy policies back in 2007. That's when the General Assembly passed its Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (RPS), which requires the state's largest electricity providers to purchase 25 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025. (The legislature buffeted it with similar restrictions on natural gas companies this spring.) In doing so, Illinois lawmakers helped to push both the state and nation's wind market forward. "With the RPS ramping up," Borgia says, "that's going to continue to spur new energy production." And states with such standards are far more likely to continue capturing the economic and environmental benefits of the industry's growth, he adds.

The transition hasn't been without some growing pains. But Gov. Pat Quinn has continued to call for developing turbines in "every nook and cranny of our state." Meanwhile, the governor is partly responsible for the Illinois Commerce Commission's (ICC) recent decision to enter into long-term wind contracts, a change Borgia deems a "landmark decision." More from a recent IWEA blog post:

[The ICC] approved a plan to allow the state's utilities to purchase wind and other renewable energy through 20-year power purchase agreements, a move that is sure to accelerate the development of wind projects in the state. [...]

The decision has impacts far beyond Illinois, as projects in other states will be allowed to bid into the solicitation, which is slated for mid-Spring of this year. Winning bidders will commence delivery of electricity on June 1, 2012. The total solicitation is for 2,000,000 mWh, or approximately 700-800MW of wind capacity.

Progressive energy policy at the state level has helped drive national wind production to a new record in 2009: 9,900 new megawatts were generated, exceeding 2008's  "banner year" by 18 percent.  But it remains to be seen if Congress will do its part. As renewable energy advocates point out, wind only makes up 2 percent of the nation's energy production. The AWEA explains why it's imperative for Congress to act:

The wind manufacturing sector has the potential to employ many more Americans in green jobs, but without a renewable electricity standard to provide a long-term market, the sector will be slow to grow.

To that end, some Illinois lawmakers are pressing Congress and the White House to get cracking and move clean energy legislation this year. We've got the scoop here.