The amount of wind power — the state’s biggest source of renewable energy — took a surprising 6% dip from the previous year, while natural gas-generated electricity had a 43% jump in 2023, government data show. A pressure system in Canada — the same weather pattern that helped spur wildfires up north, filling Chicago skies with smoke last summer — was a big reason wind power was down in 2023. The shifting wind direction affected how much wind powered all those nearly 300-foot turbines dotting the Illinois countryside.