While Chicago is known as the Windy City, the entire state of Illinois is harnessing the natural power of the wind to produce clean energy and reduce pollution. The first wind farm in Illinois, Mendota Hills near Paw Paw, was activated in 2003. In the decade since this first installation, wind energy capacity in Illinois showed extraordinary growth. Illinois law pushed this wind innovation. By 2025, under the Illinois Renewable Portfolio Standard, 25 percent of Illinois electricity must come from renewable sources. In 2013, wind energy accounted for 4.7 percent of all electric generation in Illinois, enough energy to power the equivalent of 880,000 homes.

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