Wind workers come to Capitol Hill to discuss wind power’s economic benefits to their home towns
Feb 26 2014
Americans employed in the land-based, distributed, and offshore sectors of the wind energy industry are on Capitol Hill this week for “Wind Week,” to discuss the economic benefits of wind energy in their home towns. While 2013 saw a dramatic reduction in wind energy installations because of policy uncertainty, 2014 began with more wind energy capacity under construction in the U.S. than ever before. Workers are making their annual trip to Washington, D.C. to tell their stories and push for stable incentives to support wind energy’s continued growth from 4 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. power grid and beyond.
WASHINGTON—Americans employed in the land-based, distributed, and offshore sectors of the wind energy industry are on Capitol Hill this week for “Wind Week,” to discuss the economic benefits of wind energy in their home towns. While 2013 saw a dramatic reduction in wind energy installations because of policy uncertainty, 2014 began with more wind energy capacity under construction(Opens in a new window) in the U.S. than ever before. Workers are making their annual trip to Washington, D.C. to tell their stories and push for stable incentives to support wind energy’s continued growth from 4 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. power grid and beyond.
With 80,000 made-in-the-US jobs, billions of investment flowing into wind-rich states and communities across the country, and another report showing that states with the most wind energy saw the lowest increase in electric bills, there’s plenty of good news to share.
“American wind energy is creating jobs and currently keeping local manufacturers very busy,” said John Purcell, Vice President of the Energy Division at Illinois-based Leeco Steel. “Leeco Steel works with a few of the 550 wind supply chain factories busy filling orders. Our company is thriving due to these factories being busy and we want to keep this momentum going.”
Wind energy is one of the most broadly dispersed energy industries, with factories and/or wind farms in every state, and in over 70 percent of Congressional districts. At the start of 2014 over 12,000 MW of wind energy was under construction, the most ever.
For more information on distributed wind energy please visit the Distributed Wind Energy Association, for more information on offshore wind energy please visit the Offshore Wind Development Coalition and AWEA’s Offshore WINDPOWER page.
About the Distributed Wind Energy Association
The Distributed Wind Energy Association is a collaborative group comprised of manufacturers, distributors, project developers, dealers, installers, and advocates, whose primary mission is to promote and foster all aspects of the American distributed wind energy industry. Distributed wind, commonly referred to as small and community wind, is the use of typically smaller wind turbines at homes, farms, businesses, and public facilities to off-set all or a portion of on-site energy consumption. DWEA seeks to attract members and associates from all sectors with relevant interests pertaining to the distributed wind industry. For more information on DWEA, please go to www.distributedwind.org(Opens in a new window). Follow us on Twitter @DWEA(Opens in a new window) and like us on Facebook. Join us for Distributed Wind 2014: A Capitol Hill Event for Small and Community Wind on February 27-28 in Washington, D.C.