Dive Brief:

• Despite a study finding the potential for thousands of megawatts of wind energy, Indiana has only installed about 400 MW in the last four years, according to Platts.
• The recession reduced available investment capital in the state, and cheap gas has made wind less competitive, leading to only two wind farms being deployed since 2011.
• Solar, which is still a considerably smaller resource than wind power in the Hoosier state, is growing but advocates say it has a long way to go.

Dive Insight:

Indiana State Utility Forecasting Group Director Douglas Gotham spoke with Platts about the state's renewable efforts, saying cheap fossil fuels are currently holding back green power development. Indiana is one of the country's largest coal producing states — ranked 8th in coal production in 2013 — and cheap natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus shales are also keeping wind power from competing successfully.

The state does have the ability to add more clean power, but Gotham questioned "what are the costs and are the policymakers willing to impose those extra costs in order to get the higher levels of renewables?"

It was only a decade ago the Indiana's sole renewable energy was less than 100 MW of hydroelectric power. Now, the state has more than 1,700 MW of wind, according to advocacy group Wind on Wires.

The Clean Power Plan could push Indiana towards more renewable energy, but Gov. Mike Pence is a strong opponent of the federal plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the state is challenging the law in court. Over the summer, Pence said the state would not comply with the regulatory package, absent significant changes.

But the potential for renewable energy development is there, reports indicate. 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. a 2,000-turbine wind expansion could mean up to $10 billion in investment, the largest development in Indiana history.