Dive Brief:

• The Indianapolis Star reports that Indiana's wind sector is poised for significant growth, according to projections from the Department of Energy. The state could triple its wind generation in the next decade to over 5,000 MW, according to wind advocacy organization Wind on the Wires.
• The construction of another 2,000 wind turbines would mean investment of up to $10 billion — potentially the single most expensive development in state history.
• One risk to wind development is whether the state can receive credit for renewable power sold to out-of-state consumers under the EPA's proposed carbon regulations, which are set to be finalized this summer.

Dive Insight:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan could drive the development of more wind power in Indiana.

The state could potentially reach 5,000 MW of installed capacity—up from about 1,740 MW now. "Indiana has quite a large upside. It has a great opportunity for wind development," Sean Brady, Midwest policy manager Wind on the Wires, told the newspaper. 

But if the Obama administration's plan to cut carbon emissions is written in such a way that renewable energy sales that cross state lines won't benefit Indiana, that could result in stunted growth. The Indiana wind industry currently sells most of its power to out-of-state utilities, who might drop those contracts in favor of in-state generation depending on how the regulations are written.

Indiana ranked eighth among the states in coal production in 2013, according to the Energy Information Administration. Coal-fired electric power plants provided about 85% of Indiana's net electricity generation in 2014. The state produced just 453 GWh of non-hydro renewable energy in January—a small slice of the power mix when compared to the 1,420 GWh and 7,901 GWh of natural gas and coal-fired electricity generation, respectively.