The 2017 first-quarter additions were the fastest start to a year in any of the last five years and were almost four times the number in 2016. 

The rate at which new wind projects came on line started slowly in 2016 and built to a crescendo in the fourth quarter. The figures were 520 megawatts in Q1, 310 megawatts in Q2, 895 megawatts in Q3 and 6,478 megawatts in Q4.

The American Wind Energy Association says that 9,025 megawatts of wind projects were under physical construction and another 11,952 megawatts were in advanced stages of development at the end of Q1 2017.

Texas has 54 percent of the new wind capacity under construction and 14 percent in advanced development.

More than half of US wind capacity is in just five states: Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, California and Kansas.