Turbines out in those prairies are on land leased by those farmers.
I’d love to lease a small footprint of space on my land for a megawatt-class turbine, and get many thousands of dollars per year per tower in rent. Living in CT, where the wind is low, it’s not going to happen, though.
The bulk of the U.S. population does not live in the wind-swept prairies, and "load centers" (i.e., major populated areas, industrial complexes, etc.) are far removed from the plains. Transmission towers (those ugly eyesores we all would "welcome" in our communities) are necessary to carry the power from windfarms, too, and these are NEVER shown in the "modern" wind farm photos, either.
Wind power will not replace the need for conventional generating plants, no matter how much greenies wish for it to be so.