A study by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows North Dakota continues to be a national leader in wind power development.
The study says that between 2009 and 2013 -- $1.8 billion was invested by private companies in wind farms and other clean energy technologies.
"With so much emphasis on the oil production and all that good news, we sometimes lose sight that there's another leg of this energy stool in North Dakota," said North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives executive vice-president Dennis Hill. "That's the renewable energy sector."
Hill says there are tools government can put in place to incentivize investment in renewables. One of the biggest is the production tax credit for wind energy.
"That's a very important tool that we hope can be sustained over time," said Hill. "It will give the industry another shot in the arm to make those investments."
But Hill says a lot of it will be market-driven as well.
"The market is taking a closer look at renewable energy technologies," said Hill. "Some of them make very good economic sense with or without those incentives."
The Pew report says investment in clean energy technology in North Dakota is expected to grow by another $2.9 billion over the next decade.
