For the first time in nearly 25 years, California's wind is no longer the nation's mightiest for producing energy.

Texas gusts produce 2,370 megawatts, 375 more megawatts than last year and enough to power more than 600,000 average-sized homes for a year, according to a report from the American Wind Energy Association. The state's wattage narrowly inched past California, which has more than 12,000 turbines and can produce 2,323 megawatts.

There are about 1,600 wind farms in Texas, state figures show, although there are no reliable figures on the number of turbines.

The competition for wind energy among states is a welcome sign for the association, which hopesstrong breezes will eventually account for at least 6 percent of energy produced in the country. Today it accounts for less than 1 percent in an industry largely dominated by coal, natural gas and nuclear energy.

"If wind energy wasn't competitive on a cost basis, nothing like this could have happened," said Steve Stengel, spokesman for Florida-based FPL Energy, the nation's largest wind-energy producer with 53 windmills in the San Gorgonio Pass.

The rising cost of fossil fuels to power standard electricity plants, better technology and the call for environmentally friendly alternatives has given rise to wind turbines across the country.

2003 / The Press-Enterprise Power created by wind turbines, such as these in the San Gorgonio Pass, accounts for 1 percent of the nation's power.

"You have to have good wind, you have to have willing land owners, you have to have access and availability on the transmission system and you have to have a market or a customer to sell the power to," Stengel said. "Clearly you have all those things in Texas."

FPL Energy has wind farms in 15 states that generate 26 percent of the energy used by its sister company, Florida Power & Light Co. In the San Gorgonio pass near Palm Springs and Cabazon, several companies operate about 3,000 wind turbines. The power generated is sold to Southern California Edison and accounts for 3 percent of what it uses.

"If you look at California and the process that you go through from the idea stage to actually having a project in the ground, the time required to do that in many cases takes far longer to do that than in many other states across the country," Stengel said.

The company is developing wind farms in North Dakota, Minnesota and Texas.

Reach Kimberly Pierceall at 760-837-4410 or kpierceall@PE.com.