The National Wind Technology Center estimates the total U.S. wind energy potential at 4.4 trillion kilowatt hours (kWh). Considering the fact that we in the United States used about 2.7 trillion kWh of electricity in 1990, it would be possible to meet our electrical energy needs with the wind power available each year. Yet this estimate depends upon maximum development of the resource. Such development seems unlikely to occur in the near future considering the requirements of wind power development. Not only is this resource of a highly localized, intermittent, and somewhat unreliable nature, but it is also at a current economic disadvantage when compared to the cost of electricity coming from fossil fuel and nuclear power plants. Until the cost of wind generated electricity is competitive with that of non-renewable energy resource generated electricity, efforts to develop the wind power capacity of the United States will remain limited.