South Dakota Wind Energy Resources
You can help bring wind energy to South Dakota and your community!
South Dakota has an amazing wind resource. In fact, South Dakota has the potential to produce more than one trillion kWh of electricity every year--that's enough to power almost a quarter of the entire country!
Beyond the environmental benefits of wind energy, wind energy presents an enormous economic opportunity for states that act quickly. It's been estimated that wind energy can create thousands of jobs and hundred of millions of dollars in economic growth for South Dakota, and community wind can increase these benefits by more than three times.
Unfortunately, development of wind energy in South Dakota has not yet lived up to this potential. As of early 2008, South Dakota had about 98 MW of installed wind energy capacity--17rd in the nation. As a point of comparison, Texas (the number 1 state) had 4356 MW of installed capacity.
You can help
The states that have seen the most success in wind energy have one thing in common: support from the citizens of the state. To be a part of South Dakota's wind energy future, you can do two main things:
Number 1: Educate yourself! Learn about wind energy and your options for participation.
Number 2: Speak up! Tell your elected officials (local, state and national) that you support wind energy and community wind energy and want South Dakota to be a wind energy leader.
This web page will help you with both of these activities.
Educate yourself
Learn about wind energy:
- Windustry's Wind Basics Series
- The Benefits of Wind and Community Wind Energy
- Windustry's Community Wind Energy Resource Library
- The American Wind Energy Association Web Site
- Wind Powering America (a program of the U.S. Dept. of Energy)
- The Wind Farmers Network online forum
Learn about wind energy in South Dakota:
- A wind map of South Dakota
- Existing and Planned Wind Energy Projects in South Dakota
- South Dakota Wind Energy Activities (from Wind Powering America)
- Incentives for Renewable Energy in South Dakota
Learn about community wind energy:
Other organizations doing work with wind energy in South Dakota:
- Farmers Union, South Dakota
- Dakota Rural Action
- The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
- Dakota Resource Council
- Plains Organization for Wind Energy Research
- Prairie Climate Stewardship Network
- South Dakota Dept of Commerce
Speak up
The most important thing you can do to encourage wind energy in South Dakota is to let your elected officials know that you support wind energy and ask them what they are doing to support community wind energy. You don't have to be an expert to ask!
We've put together a sample letter to help you along. Click here for the Word version or here for a pdf version.
In South Dakota, it is most important to contact your governor and state legislators.
Don't forget that 2008 is an election year--ask your candidates what they are doing to support community wind energy.
Find all your South Dakota U.S. and state elected officials by clicking here, or use the links below for more specific information.
Here is information about your elected officials:
South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds
Find Your State Legislators
South Dakota's U.S. Senators
- John Thune
- Tim Johnson
Find Your U.S. Representative
- Use the ZIP code search box on the U.S. House of Representatives web site
Find Your Local Elected Officials
Find Information about South Dakota Tribal Governments here.
Ready to take the next step? Organize a bus with your neighbors and go to Pierre to ask the Governor and your state legislators in person: "What are you doing to support community wind energy?"