U.S. Wind Power Increasingly American-made (Creating U.S. Manufacturing Jobs)

May 25th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that wind power is growing fast in the United States (and worldwide). Under the Bush administration, a goal of getting 20% of our electricity from wind by 2030 was set and we are currently ahead of schedule on that. However, a lot of people wonder, where are these wind turbines being made? Is this creating jobs in the U.S. or in China?

Well, clearly, if our federal government (in particular, Congress) did more to support clean energy, we would be creating more jobs in the U.S. Even without this, though, the wind industry is creating more and more jobs in the U.S. and helping to grow our economy.

Here’s a little more from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), which is hosting a major wind energy conference and exhibition in California right now, WINDPOWER 2011.

Wind power’s vast supply chain, which produces the 8,000 components making up a typical wind turbine, continues to grow deeper roots here in the U.S. Today the industry employs 75,000 people, and over 400 wind-related manufacturing plants dot the map in 43 states, from California where the industry began 30 years ago, through the Midwest which now leads wind development, to the Southeast even though its first wind farm is still on the drawing board.

In 2010 the industry reached 50 percent domestic content for U.S.-deployed turbines, and that percentage will continue to rise with stable policy signals. Fourteen more manufacturing facilities came online in 2010 to serve the industry. In addition, wind farms provide lease payments to landowners – $3,000 a year per turbine is typical – providing America’s farmers and ranchers with a stable new cash crop, as well as adding tax revenue to local communities, allowing them to build hospitals, schools, town halls, and libraries.

Yes, wind power is creating jobs in the U.S. and growing our manufacturing industry.

2011 is looking to be a great year for wind energy in the U.S., both in its continued growth and development as well as in federal policies and milestones. Again, here’s more from AWEA:

- In February, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu unveiled a coordinated strategic plan, A National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Industry in the United States, which pursues the deployment of 10 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2020 and 54 gigawatts by 2030. They announced $50.5 million in funding opportunities for projects that support offshore wind energy deployment.

- Also in February, the Secretary of the Interior announced the creation of high-priority Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) through the “Smart from the Start” Initiative, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) designated the leasing areas included in the Delaware and Maryland Requests for Information (RFIs) as WEAs. This announcement also designated WEAs off the coasts of New Jersey and Virginia, and outlined plans to identify additional WEAs off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island this spring.

- In March, the Secretary of the Interior and BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich announced the initiation of the process to offer the first commercial wind lease under the “Smart from the Start” Initiative off the coast of Delaware. The decision followed a determination that there was no competing interest for commercial wind energy development there at present.

- In April, BOEMRE announced a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) for wind energy development offshore of New Jersey.

- Also in April, the Secretary of the Interior announced that BOEMRE approved a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for the long-awaited Cape Wind project, in Massachusetts. Construction of this project could begin as early as the fall.

The U.S. public loves wind energy, from every poll I’ve seen on the matter, and would love the U.S. government to do more to promote it (instead of dirty fossil fuel power sources like coal). Hopefully, we’ll pick up our game and these milestones and figures will be ancient history soon.

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.