Wind Energy: Federal Initiatives & Effective Financial Support

Wind energy has been the fastest growing source of U.S. electric power generation in recent years. The increase in federal funding for wind technologies and involvement of multiple agencies has raised questions about fragmented, overlapping, or duplicative federal support. This book examines federal wind-related initiatives; programs or groups of agency activities that promoted wind energy through a specific emphasis or focus. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) identifies wind-related initiatives implemented by federal agencies in fiscal year 2011; assesses the extent of fragmentation, overlap, and duplication, if any, among these initiatives, and the extent to which they were co-ordinated; and examines how agencies allocate support to projects through their initiatives and the extent to which they assess applicant need for support.