Into the Wind - the AWEA Blog

Schuff Steel Co., a subsidiary of Schuff International, Inc., a group of steel companies providing fully integrated steel construction services, said it is moving ahead with preparation of construction documents for a new wind tower manufacturing plant planned for Ottawa, Kansas. The new factory will have an area of 200,000 square feet and will employ 200 to 250 workers when it is at full capacity, the company said.

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It's still some distance from becoming a reality, but a large wind project planned for two Hawaiian Islands could bring substantial benefits to the island of Lanai.

An agreement reached recently between Castle & Cooke, which owns land on Lanai where wind turbines would be sited, and Hawaiian Electric Co., the state's major utility, is a first major step toward siting 400 MW of wind (enough to serve 120,000 average U.S. households) on Lanai and Molokai islands and transmitting the electricity generated to populous Oahu Island via undersea cable. The distribution of population on the islands has long been an obstacle to wind: Oahu has roughly 75% of the state's people, but only about 5% of its land, leaving little space for wind, while the other islands are too thinly ...

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By Cheryl Riley, Executive Director, Wyoming Power Producers Coalition

The 61st Wyoming Legislature will have some critical decisions to make in the upcoming legislative session regarding the future of Wyoming’s economy. The actions of this legislative body may very well determine whether Wyoming citizens will benefit from the tremendous economic value that could come to our state from having a vibrant wind energy industry.

The current tax structure and level of taxation on wind energy in Wyoming makes it very difficult for Wyoming wind power projects to compete with wind power projects in Colorado, New Mexico, Montana or other states in the Rocky Mountain region. This does not include the necessary cost of delivering Wyoming wind electricity ...

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That's the message of a recent thoughtful analysis by reporter Rob Gurwitt in "Stateline," a publication of the Pew Center on the States. Writes Mr. Gurwitt:

"It’s hard to escape the sense that politically, renewable energy and energy efficiency are approaching a tipping point in many states. 'We do not pretend to have the same sway in the governor’s mansion or the general assembly as the investor-owned utilities,' says Ohio Advanced Energy’s Chris Montgomery, speaking of his own state but in terms that could apply to most others. 'But we do have much more momentum and much more legitimacy than the industry did just a ...

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Southern states could generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass by 2030 (up from four percent today) while saving millions of dollars, according to a study, "Renewable Energy in the South," released in mid-December by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Duke University (pdf).

“While the South enjoys some of the lowest electricity rates in the country, there is resistance to developing new technologies that seem much more costly than coal based electricity,” said Etan Gumerman of Duke University’s Nicholas ...

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North American Windpower has a very informative article on the effects of global climate change on wind energy:

" ... [R]esearchers at the University of California-Santa Cruz found that climate change might cause coastal winds to increase.
"'Don’t make too many assumptions,' warns Johannes Feddema, a University of Kansas professor and scientist at the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). "The impact of climate change on wind speeds is very complicated.'"

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"Wind farm sites are checked by experts and conservationists to determine their possible impact on the environment, including local and migratory birds, according to officials with the Nebraska Public Power District and Mid-American Energy Co. An NPPD spokesman said the utility monitors bird kills at its wind sites but hasnʼt seen anything significant. The agency hasnʼt heard of any endangered species being killed at the stateʼs wind farms."--excerpt from Omaha World-Herald editorial on bird collisions at wind farms.

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(A recent opinion article in my local newspaper, which posts very little of its content online, prompted this brief letter to the editor. I have added a link to the study referenced and to an article for further reading.)

To the Editor:

A recent opinion column ("Obesity Epidemic: Don't Blame the Air," Dec. 10) mocks various explanations for America's obesity epidemic and accompanies them with a homily on self-reliance and avoiding victimization. One of the "foolish" explanations referenced is a recent Ohio study linking fine air particulates with obesity in laboratory ...

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A Danish manufacturer of wind components, Vest-Fiber, said it will open a factory in Mobley, Mo.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development, which will provide the company $128,000 in job creation tax credits, said Vest-Fiber will invest $2 million in the facility, which will employ 50 and is expected to be in operation by February 2011.

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Wind Factory Watch: ...

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While America's economy is recovering slowly from the Great Recession, many states and local communities are feeling the budget pinch from falling tax revenues. One exception, though, is the Olympia school district in Illinois, which is seeing a jump in tax revenue (without an increase in property tax rates) due in part to the construction and operation of Horizon Wind Energy's Railsplitter Wind Farm.

According to local news reports, the wind farm has increased the district's tax income by some $440,000 to just under $12 million: "'The wind farms ...

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