There is a large disparity in the amount of wind power capacity installed in each of the states in the U.S. It is often thought that the different policies of individual state governments are the main reason for these differences, but this may not necessarily be the case. The aim of this paper is to use statistical methods to study the factors that have the most influence on the amount of installed wind capacity in each state. From this analysis, we were able to use these variables to accurately predict the installed wind capacity and to gain insight into the driving factors for wind power development and the reasons behind the differences among states. Using our best model, we find that the most important variables for explaining the amount of wind capacity have to do with the physical and geographic characteristics of the state as opposed to policies in place that favor renewable energy. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.