WindTV: WindMade consumer label launched to highlight companies using clean wind energy

 
WASHINGTON, DC, November 28, 2011–WindMade™ has officially entered the global marketplace, and WindTV was there to capture the moment. At an event appropriately held in the world commerce hub of New York City, several leading global corporations recently announced their commitment to attain the new “WindMade” label by getting at least 25 percent of their electricity from wind energy.

 
 WASHINGTON, DC, November 28, 2011–WindMade™ has officially entered the global marketplace, and WindTV was there to capture the moment. At an event appropriately held in the world commerce hub of New York City, several leading global corporations recently announced their commitment to attain the new “WindMade” label by getting at least 25 percent of their electricity from wind energy.

The latest installment of WindTV, which is the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) new vehicle to highlight how wind power works for America, offers a look at the historic November 18 event at which companies such as Motorola Mobility, Deutsche Bank, and Bloomberg became the first to embrace the WindMade label, which allows approved products to market themselves as made with wind energy.

“Today there are 15 corporate WindMade pioneers that have already committed themselves to certify as WindMade and make it transparent to their consumers and stakeholders how much wind energy they are using,” Morten Albæck, senior vice president for global marketing and consumer insight at Vestas Wind Systems, explains in the WindTV segment.

According to the WindMade requirements, companies using the label must source a minimum of 25 percent of the electricity consumed from wind power. The wind energy share can be procured through a company-owned wind power generation facility, a long-term power purchase agreement for wind power, or the purchase of high-quality renewable energy certificates approved by WindMade. The exact percentage of the wind energy share will be stated on the label.

Also speaking in New York City was Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council and chairman of WindMade, who discusses in the WindTV segment how the new label empowers consumers to speak with their wallets—that is, help grow the industry both by creating more demand for wind power and by sending a message to policymakers that they want policies that support the clean, affordable energy source.
“What we’re trying to do with WindMade is to create ‘consumer pull,’ if you will—activate the public, who repeatedly in opinion poll after opinion poll have said they want more renewable energy, they want more wind energy,” says Sawyer. “This is a way that consumers, through their interaction with the actual retail brands, can have an influence on that directly.”

WindTV is a new showcase of video profiles of Americans whose lives have been positively impacted by the wind energy industry. The site, located at www.awea.org/windtv, features a different video profile each week.
“America has spoken, and they want more wind power,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “The WindMade brand gives consumers a powerful tool to show that wind is America’s choice to power our nation. Congress must heed America’s call for more wind power by passing an extension of the federal Production Tax Credit.”

The Production Tax Credit, wind power’s primary policy driver, is scheduled to expire at the end of next year, and already the industry is being impacted by the uncertainty caused by the looming expiration.

To view the segment on the exciting WindMade event, and to see how wind power is positively impacting the lives of everyday Americans, go to WindTV.