Amazon to the rescue.

• Position: EASTERN REGION

Amazon came through with an important delivery in North Carolina: helping seal plans for a wind-energy farm that has been five years in the making. The state's first commercial-scale wind farm, planned for 22,000 acres in Pasquotank and Perquimans counties, faced political and economic headwinds before the e-commerce giant stepped up. Amazon agreed to purchase electricity generated from the U.S. arm of Iberdrola, Spain's largest electric utility.

"The basic holdup through the process had to do with the ability to get a power-purchase agreement. It's a massive capital investment of $400 million to $500 million," says Wayne Harris, economic developer for Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County. "Most developers are unwilling to make that investment unless they have a 30-year agreement to sell the power." To Iberdrola's chagrin, tax credits from the Obama administration's economic stimulus program expired before the company lined up a buyer for the power. "At that point, I thought the project was doomed, but the price of turbines dropped," Harris says. "The turbines became more efficient, so Iberdrola stayed the course and found that with the right customers it could make the investment without the federal tax credit."

Local officials didn't find out until the night before July's announcement that Amazon had agreed to buy the power. The Seattle-based company, which had revenue of $89...