Into the Wind - the AWEA Blog

Latest video segment highlights how wind power, PTC drive construction business

The construction sector has long been a key ingredient to a strong American economy, and these days it’s getting a boost from wind power.

That fact comes through in full color in the latest segment on WindTV, the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) vehicle to highlight how wind works for America. The segment features two Iowa-based employees from Mortenson Construction, which builds wind farms around the country.

On the video segment, meet James Bulman, the enthusiastic construction superintendent at the Rolling Hills wind project in southwest Iowa, and Ryan Januszenski, the ...

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Washington, DC. (January 17, 2012) – Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, issued the following statement today on the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness Road Map to Renewal report's endorsement of extending the Production Tax Credit for wind energy — which is the top legislative goal of the U.S. wind industry, to keep Americans working in wind energy.

The jobs council's report recommends that: "Making the R&D tax credit permanent and extending production tax credits will also promote the type of innovation and investment America needs to diversify its generation portfolio and prepare for rising levels of energy demand." (p. 31)

Bode said, "This endorsement of an extension for wind energy's key Production Tax Credit ...

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The Denver Post today called for speedy action by Congress on extending the federal production tax credit (PTC) for wind power, warning that "thousands of jobs could be lost in Colorado and other states" if lawmakers don't act soon.

AWEA has been pushing hard for an immediate extension, arguing that wind power is an American manufacturing success story and that thousands of new manufacturing jobs created by the wind industry could disappear without prompt action. It has pointed to an economic study finding that with stable tax policy, the wind industry can grow to almost 100,000 American jobs in the next four years.

The Post, however, pointed to a more concrete and immediate real-world ...

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The following letter was sent Friday to former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani following a recent appearance on CNN.

Dear Mr. Mayor,
 
I wanted to send a quick correction regarding a statement you made about wind and solar accounting for "only one percent of what produces our source of electrical power" during your interview on CNN's Piers Morgan last night.
 
To clarify, wind generation alone provided 3.4 percent of the nation's electricity in the first half of 2011, the latest period for which we have complete data, an increase from 1.8 percent in 2009.  All forms of renewable energy, including hydropower, together provided 10 percent of the nation's electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration, an ...

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I've written here recently about how the southeastern U.S., a region generally considered wind-poor, can and is still benefiting from wind power through consumer savings on electricity bills and through new manufacturing jobs (see "Southeast sees consumer savings, jobs from wind, but tax credit extension needed," January 10). Now a major wind project being proposed in southern Florida opens yet another front for wind power in the Southeast.

A spokesman for Missouri-based wind farm developer Wind Capital Group was recently quoted in press reports as saying the 150-MW Sugarland Wind Project in Palm Beach County could be in ...

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As we’ve noted many times before on this blog and in articles elsewhere, the fossil fuel industry and allied groups are engaged in a desperate misinformation campaign to muddy the waters about one of the indisputable benefits of wind energy: its proven record of greatly reducing fossil fuel use and harmful pollution. Each of these attacks has been roundly rebutted by government data and studies by independent grid operators conclusively showing that pollution and fossil fuel use decline significantly in lockstep as regions ramp up their use of wind energy. In fact, much of the data indicates that the emissions savings of wind energy are even larger than expected because wind energy tends to disproportionately displace dirtier and less flexible coal plants relative to less dirty and more ...

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Latest WindTV episode highlights high-flying, well-paying jobs of wind techs

Putting on all the gear and getting strapped up for safety. Getting to your job by making a long ascent inside a giant tube of steel. And viewing the world from a vantage point that’s stunning and inspiring.

Anyone who has ever wondered what it’s like to work on a wind farm should take two minutes and view a video segment on Matt Crawford, lead wind technician for Alliant Energy in Iowa. Crawford’s experience as a wind tech is the ...

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Louisiana recently became the latest state in the southeastern U.S.--a region not known for its wind resources--to benefit from the clean energy resource, as the state's Public Service Commission (PSC) gave the green light to a proposed 20-year contract by Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) of Shreveport, La., to buy 31 megawatts (MW) of wind generation from a Kansas wind farm.

Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell was quoted in press reports as saying the wind power purchase, from the Flat Ridge 2 wind farm in southeastern Kansas, will save consumers money. Commented Campbell, "Considering that renewable energy has historically cost more than power from conventional sources, this new SWEPCO wind purchase is a notable achievement for the ...

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