DES MOINES, IOWA (AP) -- Construction of wind farms has fallen 71 percent nationwide this year and has ground to a halt in Iowa.
The American Wind Energy Association says about 700 megawatts of capacity was completed in the first half of this year. An additional 5,000 megawatts of capacity is under construction nationally ahead of the expiration of a grant program created by the 2009 stimulus bill.
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But industry officials say the slowdown will continue unless Congress enacts a national renewable-electricity mandate to reassure investors that there will be a market for additional wind power. Legislation to do that has stalled in the Senate.
No wind energy sites are currently under construction in Iowa, although the state remains No. 2 in total wind generation capacity behind Texas.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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