Elizabeth Rubado

2011 was a tough year for small wind incentive programs. Over the past 12 months, California, Oregon, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Minnesota all experienced some kind of suspension or significant reduction of their incentives for wind turbines.

The small and mid-scale wind industry is in a unique place in its development: it’s past the stage of an emerging market, but not-yet-fully fledged. And as many states have been discovering, this phase of the industry is full of growing pains.