Into the Wind - the AWEA Blog

The proposal by New York's Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) and a handful of others to shut off the flow of Treasury cash payments to new wind projects illustrates the self-defeating nature of current Congressional policy towards jobs and manufacturing. As the Energy Department's spokesman said yesterday, "Other countries are not pressing the pause button on clean energy industries, and they will move quickly to capture America’s share of the global market while we sit on the sidelines."

Consider the big picture: The U.S. economy has not yet fully emerged from recession. Unemployment is still hovering around 10 percent. The Recovery Act has been pumping money into job creation initiatives, including new wind energy projects, in order to stimulate the economy and keep more people from ...

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Approaching the National Renewable Energy Laboratory National Wind Technology Center (NREL NWTC), tucked into the quiet foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Boulder, Colo., I couldn’t help but imagine its Department of Energy researchers like the dogged, faceless scientists in James Bond movies, stashed in a hidden government compound toiling away at the newest secret weapon or destructive gadget for the next MI6 mission.

Fortunately, what actually happens at the National Wind Technology Center is much less dangerous and much more beneficial to the enhancement of the wind industry in the United States. ...

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Here is a statement released today by AWEA CEO Denise Bode, in response to a proposal by Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and others to deny Recovery Act incentive payments to projects containing less than 100% U.S. manufactured components:

"At a time when the construction unemployment rate is nearly 25% and the manufacturing unemployment rate is 13%, this proposal would cost 50,000 American workers their jobs.

"The truth is, by law, Recovery Act incentive payments can only be used to finance projects that are being built in the United States.

"This proposal would torpedo one of the most successful job creation efforts of the Recovery Act, which has already preserved half of the 85,000 American jobs in the U.S. wind industry.

"Rather ...

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Today AWEA CEO Denise Bode joined a panel at the Energy Biz Forum here in Washington. The audience was largely executives from the electric utility industry.

“[The U.S. is] actually becoming a manufacturing headquarters, with the share of domestically manufactured wind turbine components increasing from 25% before 2005 to over 50% in 2009," Bode said. "That is why I am so passionate about a long-term policy for renewable energy. We have the opportunity to lead if we take action now.”

When asked about utilities' and and states’ concerns about the progress of Congress granting the federal government authority to break through transmission planning barriers, Bode, a former state utility commissioner, said: “ I come from the view that this can be done. We have to ...

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A Washington Post editorial this past weekend suggested that natural gas be included in state renewable portfolio standards and in the federal renewable electricity standard now before Congress. It would be a convenient way to retire some coal plants and reduce greenhouse gases, the Post said.

To avoid the obvious argument that natural gas is not renewable, the editorial described the state rules and proposed federal rule as "clean energy" rather than renewable standards. Nice try; they are called renewable standards for a reason.

Semantics aside, the Big Three utility ...

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At AWEA we like to stress that wind energy means jobs--after all, every one of a turbine's 8,000 parts has to be manufactured. Fortunately, some of the jobs lost during the recession are coming back. This week PPG Industries added 180 employees to restart a furnace at its fiber glass plant in Lexington, N.C. The company said the move is in response to increased orders coming from both the wind and environmental filtration markets. (Turbine blades are made of fiberglass and other composites.)

Some of the newly hired employees were recalled from layoffs, the company said.

“The restart of the second furnace at Lexington helps position PPG to support increasing demand for fiber glass as the economy returns,” said Kevin McDonald, PPG general manager for fiber glass ...

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A proposal offered in the Nebraska legislature would remove some of the longstanding obstacles to wind development in the state, which ranks fourth in wind potential.

The wind energy bill was offered this week by State Sen. Chris Langemeier. It is the result of more than a year of study and negotiations within the state legislature's Natural Resources Committee, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

The legislation would make it possible for wind developers in the state to export wind energy to other states while protecting the current Nebraska public power system, which produces affordable electricity for the state's consumers.

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* General Motors announced today that it was ending production of the Hummer vehicle, after a proposed sale to a Chinese firm fell through.

* The Vermont Senate today voted not to extend the license of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, the state's only reactor, beyond 2012. Extending the license required the approval of both chambers of the legislature.

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 Wyoming is considering imposing a third type of tax on wind energy projects, and it is drawing national scrutiny, even from economists.

Last week, the Wyoming wind electricity tax was passed by the Wyoming House, and it is now being considered by the state's Senate. Though not unprecedented, the $1 per megawatt-hour tax is unusual, especially since other states are developing incentives, not disincentives, to bring in wind projects. The Wyoming move is viewed with consternation in the industry. On the one hand the state has great potential for wind development. But its policies have not been wind friendly. What's a developer to do? An economist is suggesting that the new tax – which is in addition to property taxes and sales taxes on wind starting next year -- send ...

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Last week provided two outstanding examples of what we need to build a strong green economy in America.

On Tuesday, Feb. 16, Spanish manufacturer Ingeteam announced that it will build a wind turbine generator manufacturing facility in Milwaukee, creating 270 jobs over the next five years.

And on Thursday, Feb. 18, Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa said it would bring back 79 workers laid off in November and hire an additional 50, after Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell (D) announced the award of $22.8 million in economic Recovery Act funds for three wind projects in the state.

These are manufacturing jobs--the heart and sinew of a green industrial economy that can reshape America's future and lay the foundation for long-term growth.

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