Wind energy generates more than 10% of the energy in America, but those giant wind turbines spinning in the country side didn’t pop up overnight. In fact, a big part of their success comes from federal funding; starting back in the 1970s, agencies like National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) helped design and build early wind turbines as part of experimental programs. These early machines, called the MOD-series, may not have been perfect, but they helped scientists figure out what works—and what doesn’t, becoming the building blocks for the powerful turbines we have today.

In 2012, the DOE also started programs like the Competitiveness Improvement Project, which helps small and mid-sized companies test their turbine designs and bring them to market. Around the same time, NSF launched programs like WindSTAR, which teams up universities and companies to solve real engineering problems in wind energy—from blade durability to turbine control systems. These efforts help train future engineers and scientists while making wind energy more advanced and affordable.

Today, federal research continues to push wind technology forward. The DOE and NSF are funding exciting innovations like plasma-actuated “smart blades” that can adjust to wind in real time, and new floating offshore wind turbines that could power cities from deep ocean waters. They’re even working on how to recycle old blades and reduce the need for rare-earth materials in turbine motors.

So why does this matter? Because wind power is one of the cleanest and cheapest ways to make electricity. It doesn’t burn fuel or pollute the air, and it helps reduce our use of fossil fuels like coal and gas. Federal investment has also helped drive wind energy into a multi‑billion-dollar industry - in 2024, the total U.S. wind power market was worth about $18.2 billion and projections expect it to reach $27 billion by 2032.