Wind Power

The Top 10 Wind Energy States In 2012

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We already knew it was a record-breaking year for the U.S. wind power industry in 2012, as fears that the production tax credit for wind would vanish drove installations at a frenzy pace toward the end of the year. Some 8,380 megawatts of the year’s 13,124 megawatts of generating capacity went online in the fourth quarter, which means that nearly 15 percent of the total wind power capacity ever installed in the country happened in the last three months of 2012.

But which states did the most damage in the year? A new release from the American Wind Energy Association breaks it down. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 1, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Memo To DC: Think Long-Term On Clean Energy

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Memo To DC: Think Long-Term On Clean EnergIn his inaugural address, President Obama issued a ringing call for U.S. leadership on the development of sustainable energy technologies. Given Republican reluctance on the issue, what that will mean in practice is hard to say, but a leading nonpartisan research group has a message for the administration and Congress: Adopt long-term, consistent policies or lose out to the rest of the world.

“Although initiatives in recent years have helped to stimulate clean energy progress in the United States, the future of government policy is now uncertain and weighs heavily on U.S. industry and its competitive prospects,” the Pew Chartitable Trust says in its new study [PDF], “Innovate, Manufacture, Compete: A Clean Energy Action Plan.” Keep reading →

 /  Published January 25, 2013 at 2:00 PM

GE Reaches Milestone for Wind Installations as US Industry Heads for Cliff

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A Vietnamese employee of GE’s newly built turbine generator factory walks in front of wind turbine components inside an assembly line in the northern coastal city of Hai Phong on October 15, 2010.

GE last month celebrated its 20,000th wind turbine installation, a gargantuan achievement given the US power generation giant only stepped into the sector in 2002 when it purchased the wind power assets from recently bankrupted Enron. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 17, 2012 at 12:00 PM

Can the DOE Kick-Start Offshore Wind in the US?

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While there are nearly four gigawatts of installed offshore wind capacity in Europe and China, the U.S. has no operational projects in the water, and its nine advanced-stage plans, representing 3,380 megawatts of potential capacity, face challenges, according to a new study on the industry by Navigant Consulting that was conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

To further drive U.S. offshore wind past those challenges and into commercial operation by 2017, the DOE awarded $28 million per year in Advanced Technology Demonstration funding for the next six years to seven projects that proved themselves with backing from DOE in 2011. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 14, 2012 at 3:30 PM

UK Energy Plan: A Model for a Low-carbon Future?

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Can government stimulate investment in renewable energy generation by guaranteeing an electricity price for developers of sources such as wind and nuclear?

The UK government thinks it can, and recently introduced a long-awaited bill that would set a “strike price” for power generated by low-carbon producers, and recover the costs from consumers via electricity suppliers. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 10, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Undecided Voters Lean to Obama on Energy, Environment Standards, Poll Finds

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Comedian Seth Meyers hosts the NRDC’s 13th Annual ‘Forces For Nature’ Benefit at American Museum of Natural History on November 14, 2011 in New York City.

A majority of undecided voters in eight U.S. swing states favor policies that reduce carbon and mercury pollution and promote higher fuel efficiency standards and tax breaks for wind power, suggesting a clear advantage for President Obama among that section of the electorate ahead of the presidential election, according to a new opinion poll. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 3, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Buffett Company Grabs Two California Wind Projects

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Warren Buffett bought himself two more wind farms on Sunday.

OK, it’s a little more roundabout than that. MidAmerica Wind bought two Southern California wind farm projects, part of the sprawling Alta Wind Energy Center – and by “projects” we mean they aren’t operating yet, but are expected to be by the end of the year. (They better be, in order to qualify for expiring federal tax breaks.) Keep reading →

 /  Published October 1, 2012 at 11:30 AM

State-level Policies Impact Renewable Energy Most

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With just six weeks remaining in the current election cycle, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s opposition to the extension of wind energy tax credits and his ho-hum approach to renewable energy in his official energy policy are of understandable concern to advocates of blossoming renewable energy sources, including solar and wind.

Despite the solar industry’s significant interest in the outcome in the Presidential and Congressional elections, it is races deciding control of state legislatures that are arguably more important. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 19, 2012 at 11:30 AM

What Obama and Romney Don’t Say About Energy

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Fossil fuels and renewable energy have become touchy topics in this election, with challenger Mitt Romney painting President Barack Obama as too hard on the first and too fanciful about the second – and Obama saying Romney is out of touch with energy’s future.

But two other significant resources, nuclear power and energy efficiency, are evoking scant debate. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 13, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Wind Sector Considers Life Without the PTC

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The US wind power industry has lived and died by production tax credits over the years, and with the prospect of expiration finally looming at the end of this year, industry players are working hard to build a future without it.

US installations are set to fall off a cliff in 2013 with Navigant Consulting estimating additional incremental capacity between 1 and 4 GW, down dramatically from >9 GW in 2012. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 25, 2012 at 11:30 AM
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