Another year. Another record.

The hits just keep on comin' for the U.S. wind industry, with 2007 in the books as the third consecutive year in which installed capacity broke the previous year's mark. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the industry installed 5,244 MW in 2007, more than doublinng the 2006 total of 2,454 MW. That's about 30 percent of all electric generation constructed last year. AWEA says total capacity is 16,818 MW and spans 34 states. Wind also is estimated to generate 48 billion kWh in 2008, just over 1% of U.S. electricity supply.

Will it last? Much of the new capacity was installed in energy friendly Texas and the Midwest, where rural economies seem to enjoy the most direct economic benefit. Developers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions still seem to have more than their share of opposition to getting plants built. And the industry's lifeline, a production tax credit, expires this year. AWEA has been successful in recent years in gaining extensions, but with a recession possibly around the corner, the field seeking tax breaks in 2008 is presumably more crowded than ever.

On the bright side, all this development occurred without a national mandate to puurchase renewable energy - the states seemed to be doing that on their own - and 14 production plants for components were either opened or announced last year. And the 2007 build-out represents a $9 billion investment, AWEA says.

With that kind of investment, it seems unlikely that the industry will be left to languish, no matter how much huffing and puffing the wind folks do about tax credits. The wind will keep blowing and developers and planners will have to adapt, no matter what direction the policy breezes shift.