Dive Brief:

• Three regional grid operators have struck new wind generation records in recent weeks, with the biggest increase coming in the Midcontinent ISO, to reach 12,600 MW, RTO Insider reports. 
• The Southwest Power Pool set a new record of more than 9,500 MW on Tuesday, with a 33% penetration level.
• Wind power in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas system topped 12,600 MW, more than 75% of installed capacity. 

Dive Insight:

Three new wind generation records have been set in the last couple of weeks, and Texas and Midcontinent markets have reported nearly-identical peaks. In the Midcontinent ISO, on Nov. 20, wind peaked at 12,613.9 MW, a significant jump from the previous peak of 12,006 MW. Texas set a new wind record on Nov. 17, reaching 12,641 MW.

October was also a record month for wind generation in four of the nation’s seven organized markets, as well as in Colorado, with Ongoing capacity buildout and technological advancements contributing to the peaks. The 2014 extension of $0.023/kWh PTC has also helped sustain a “wind rush” thanks to crucial “under-construction” language.  

The U.S. wind industry experienced its second-biggest third quarter growth ever this year, installing 1,602 MW of new capacity, amounting about 3,596 MW of cumulative new capacity put into service in 2015. 

Now new wind records have been a frequent occurrence of late – this is Texas' fourth this year – and all three grid operators took to twitter to make brief announcements. Which means we can compare re-tweets and favorites: ERCOT: 18; MISO and SPP, 3 each.

SPP set another new wind peak of 9,564 MW at 9:45 p.m. on Nov. 23. Penetration level was 33 percent at that time.

— Southwest Power Pool (@SPPorg) November 24, 2015

The official wind peak is in. Yesterday at 10:04am we hit 12,613.9 MW’s eclipsing the previous peak of 12,006.

— Midcontinent ISO (@miso_energy) November 20, 2015

#ERCOT set a new wind record Monday, hitting 12,641 MW at 9:36 pm. Output was more than 75% of installed capacity. https://t.co/gk1l4WJpPh

— ERCOT (@ERCOT_ISO) November 17, 2015