> From a long-term point of view, the cost of the wind energy is just the depreciation of the turbines plus the maintenance costs on the farm. A minor detail,

> From a long-term point of view, the cost of the wind energy is just the depreciation of the turbines plus the maintenance costs on the farm. A minor detail, but don't forget the cost of transmission. My understanding is that the US has massive wind energy potential (http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg and http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/80m_wind/USwind300dpe4-11.jpg http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/80m_wind/USwind300dpe4-11.jpg) but it's not necessarily near the most densly populated regions. Building and maintaining these transmission corridors is not an insubstantial cost.