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Synopsis The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to further the development of wind energy resources in support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Energy Program and its Wind Powering America Initiative. A GIS consists of computer hardware and software that inputs, stores, maintains, manipulates, analyzes, and outputs geographically referenced data. Some of the elements of NREL's GIS data used in wind energy activities include wind measurement sites, transmission lines, federal facility information, and modeled wind resources. A relatively simple GIS analysis technique involves combining data layers to summarize spatial information. This type of analysis is used to identify areas with strong potential for wind resource development using potential wind resource availability, electricity rate, and federal electricity load information.