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U.S. Wind-Power Expansion Slows from 2009, Group Says (Update1)
2010-07-26 17:41:26.91 GMT
(Adds comment on wind-energy growth in third paragraph.)
By Kim Chipman
July 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. wind-power companies slowed the
expansion of electricity generation in the first half of 2010,
adding 1,200 megawatts or 70 percent less than a year earlier,
the head of the American Wind Energy Association said.
A record 10,000 megawatts was added last year, with 4,000
from January through June, Denise Bode, chief executive officer
of the group representing companies such as Siemens AG and
Clipper Windpower Plc, said today in an interview.
Wind-power companies expanded turbine farms last year as
President Barack Obama pushed renewable energy such as wind and
solar power, she said. Business are now holding back as support
wanes in Congress for a national standard requiring power plants
to buy additional power from renewable sources, Bode said.
"Investors, whether they be in generation or looking at
building new manufacturing facilities, just aren't putting the
money in," she said. "There is a tremendous amount of concern
that the commitment is not there for a renewable standard."
Bode led wind and solar energy advocates today in calling
on the Senate to advance legislation setting a U.S. renewable
electricity standard.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said
last week that he couldn't garner enough support for a national
rule on renewable sources or a cap on carbon-dioxide pollution
blamed for climate change.
Bode said the Senate has the 60 votes needed to pass a
renewable measure, and said she's hopeful the Senate will
include it in future legislation.
'Beginning Debate'
"I don't think it's all over," she said. "We are just
beginning the debate."
The wind association has said dropping a renewable standard
from energy legislation may put 85,000 wind-industry jobs at
risk and jeopardize creation of more than 270,000 positions.
Electricity added from fossil fuels such as coal this year
is surpassing wind energy for the first time "in the last
several years." A tax credit to spur wind energy companies
remains in place through the end of 2010, Bode said.
"Our industry is likely to be damaged, perhaps over the
long haul," without a renewable-energy rule in place, she said.
The association will release a wind-energy growth forecast
tomorrow.
--With assistance from Christopher Martin in New York. Editors:
Steve Geimann, Larry Liebert
To contact the reporter on this story:
Kim Chipman in Washington at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or
lliebert@bloomberg.net
