Pennsylvania has great wind energy potential, but it is currently using only a fraction of what it could. A new Stacker report illustrated the gap.

Stacker ranked states based on their untapped wind energy potentials using data from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Washington D.C. The ranking was determined by comparing continental states’ installed vs. potential wind energy capacities.

The Keystone State ranked at No. 30 on the list, with a potential wind energy capacity of 108,946 megawatts and a currently installed wind energy capacity of 1,459 megawatts. This puts the state’s current wind-power generation rate at just 1.7 percent of its electric grid.

While only 4 percent of the state’s electricity needs are met by renewable energy, more than one-third of that amount is generated by wind.

Currently, advocates for wind farms have been unable to gain bipartisan support from the state legislature to further its use.

The reluctance is not only affecting residents’ budgets, it’s also costing the state jobs. Some manufacturers of wind turbine blade components (including one in nearby Allentown) are moving operations to Mexico, finding the local market unsustainable.

More about states successfully addressing their power needs with Mother Nature’s help is in Stacker.