Into the Wind - the AWEA Blog

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) joined representatives from BP Wind Energy and Sempra U.S. Gas & Power yesterday afternoon at their Flat Ridge 2 wind farm in Harper County to mark the launch of the project’s construction.

“The development of the Flat Ridge 2 Wind Farm is an important component to achieving balance in our country’s energy production and revitalizing rural Kansas,” Gov. Brownback said.  “Our state has a rich abundance of this home-grown, renewable energy and we are happy to add it to our list of Kansas export commodities alongside oil and natural gas, beef and wheat.”

Located on a 66,000-acre site about 40 miles southwest of Wichita and consisting of 262 GE ...

Read more

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Colo.) toured the factory of a wind turbine manufacturer earlier this week and reiterated his call for extension of wind power's primary incentive, the federal wind energy production tax credit (PTC).  In a visit to Leitner-Poma of America, based in Grand Junction, he noted, "It's nice to see things stamped made here in America."

Colorado, Bennet added, has seen thousands of new jobs from the wind power industry, and businesses need policy certainty to preserve those jobs and create more by investing in more factories.  Referring to Washington, D.C., and the ongoing struggle to extend the PTC, he said, "I call that place 'The Land ...

Read more

PTC uncertainty threatens limitless energy source that pays dividends in jobs

WASHINGTON, DC, April 4, 2012 – The sights and sounds associated with Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church are much like those of many older urban churches across America. Tall columns outside the entrance recall old-world neoclassical architecture. Inside, high ceilings and stone floors create a wonderful echo for the organ that plays every Sunday. But something a little extra special is energizing the church these days. Wind energy.

Recently, the Washington, D.C., church began purchasing wind power to meet its electricity needs. Mount Vernon Place United Methodist is the subject of the latest segment of

Read more

The three commissioners of Wheatland County, Montana, had a letter in the Billings (Mont.) Gazette Sunday expressing their support for the federal wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) and calling on the state's Congressional representatives, U.S. Sens. Max Baucus (D) and Jon Tester (D) and U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R) to seek its extension beyond its scheduled expiration at the end of this year.

Tom Bennett, chair of the county board of commissioners, was joined in signing the letter by colleagues David Miller and Richard Moe.  The three commented in part:

"The wind farms in our county have created ...

Read more

There wasn't any school Saturday, but it was a red-letter day for many students, current and past, of Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, Me., where the ribbon-cutting was held for a new 100-kW Northern Power Systems wind turbine resulting from an eight-year-long student project.

Read more

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) delivered a strong speech in support of wind power's primary incentive, the federal wind energy production tax credit (PTC) on the Senate floor this week.  Some excerpts from Sen. Grassley's remarks:

... I've championed the [PTC] as a way to provide a level playing field for a very clean, renewable resource. As a result ... wind energy has become more efficient and cost-effective.  The cost of wind energy has declined by 90 percent since the 1980s. Wind has accounted for 35 percent of all new American electric generation in the last five years.  Wind has already provided 20 percent of the electric ...

Read more

In a Daily Caller op-ed Wednesday, Joseph T. Kelliher, who chaired the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for four years after being appointed to it by President George W. Bush, called for an extension of the federal wind energy production tax credit (PTC).

Kelliher, now a senior executive with NextEra Energy, urged support for the PTC as part of an "all of the above" energy strategy to ensure a diversified U.S. energy supply for the long-term future:

One hundred years ago, Winston Churchill explained the importance of ...

Read more

A spokesman for Power Co. of Wyoming (PCW), which is working on a very large wind farm in Carbon County, Wyo., said Wednesday that its wildlife assessment efforts are consistent with avian guidelines for wind power recently issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS).

An AP article quoted PCW Vice President of Land and Environmental Affairs Garry Miller, who said the firm is doing extensive studies to determine potential impacts of the project on birds and other species of wildlife.

"What we're doing is we are ...

Read more

Wind power's primary incentive, the federal wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC), should be extended immediately, representatives of two American wind turbine component manufacturers told a U.S. Senate tax subcommittee yesterday.

Speaking before the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure, spokesmen for Leeco Steel and TPI Composites described their companies' involvement in the rapidly growing wind power manufacturing supply chain and made the case for extending the PTC beyond its currently scheduled expiration date at the end of this year.

John Purcell, Vice President of Wind Energy for Leeco Steel, said his firm "feel[s] it is imperative that the PTC be extended in its full form as presented in S. 2201, the American ...

Read more

With wind power now a mainstream energy source, industry events dot every month of the calendar. One event set for a couple of weeks from now, however, is just a little extra special for a couple of reasons—location and speakers. In fact, the two are connected.

Scheduled to speak at the 2012 Annual Iowa Wind Energy Association (IWEA) Conference, which takes place April 9-11 in Des Moines, are Iowa Governor Terry Branstad (R), Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), and AWEA CEO Denise Bode, among others. Iowa, with wind penetration levels that approach 20 percent of the state’s electricity portfolio, is one of the industry leaders in that category and others. That’s in part thanks to policies championed by leaders like Branstad, who implemented the nation’s first renewable ...

Read more