Stimulus didn't add to wind-energy jobs

Stimulus didn't add to wind-energy jobs

Jan 27 - USA TODAY

Federal stimulus money rescued the U.S. wind-power industry from what could have been a disastrous 2009, but it still lost sought-after manufacturing jobs, a trade group reported Tuesday.

Nationwide, the wind-power industry employs about 85,000 people -- the same number as a year ago after it gained 13,000 manufacturing jobs in 2008, says Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association.

Early last year, the association had expected wind-power development to drop 50% in year-end levels compared with 2008, given the dearth of financing for wind-farm projects.

But 2009 federal stimulus dollars, about $2.2 billion for dozens of wind projects and wind turbine-component manufacturers, softened the recession's impact. "The stimulus was a real spur to development," she says. "We saved half an industry."

The industry last year added 39% more wind power, a record 9,900 megawatts. That's enough to power the equivalent of 2.4 million homes, the association says.

Only 38 wind turbine-component manufacturing plants were built or expanded last year, down from 55 in 2008. In addition, several wind-turbine companies announced layoffs last year, including at plants in Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Nebraska.

Bode estimates that the industry lost 1,500 to 2,000 manufacturing jobs last year but gained an equal number in wind-farm construction and maintenance.

Without the stimulus funds, "Things would've ground to a halt," says Gary Hardke, president of the San Diego-based Cannon Power Group. It has installed 400 megawatts of wind power in Washington state in the past 18 months and secured $19 million in stimulus funds. Without the funds, the project "would've stalled out," Hardke says.

Manufacturers also suffered because they had big inventory levels last year, Bode says. Over the longer term, wind-turbine makers have expressed reluctance to build plants in the USA because it lacks a national standard to increase the use of renewable energy sources, Bode says. Legislation in Congress has proposed the United States get 15% to 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, along with increased efficiencies.

Locally, 29 states have their own requirements to get more of their energy from renewable sources and six states have set goals.

The nation's wind-power industry provides about 2% of the USA's electricity. That could rise to 20% in the eastern USA by 2024 if enough money is invested in transmission lines and the power grid, said a study recently released by the Department of Energy.