Notes from Michigan Wind Energy Conference, March 3, 2009, Cobo Hall, Detroit
More than 1,000 attendees were present to get the latest information on the state of the wind energy industry in Michigan yesterday, and many more are in attendance today. Among the highlights:
Liesl Clark from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth (DELEG) gave a presentation on behalf of Director, Skip Pruss, who was called away to attend meetings with Michigan’s legislative delegation while the Governor meets with President Barack Obama's auto industry task force. While in D.C., the Governor will also attend a symposium on the challenges of building a renewable energy economy. U.S. lawmakers, business leaders and climate change economists also will attend.
The transformation of the Department of Labor and Economic Growth into DELEG is envisioned as a way to build strategic alliances with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), NextEnergy, utilities and stakeholder groups, the main focus of which is to create and retain jobs. Ms. Clark cited the Center for Americn Progress’ report which MLCV helped release in 2008, documenting that 60,000 new jobs could be created in Michigan by investing in in the clean energy sector.
She also noted that farmers in the “Thumb” region of Michigan are able to earn an average of $7,500 per wind turbine installed on their property.
Dan Radomski, NextEnergy was described as a “business matchmaker.” NextEnergy helps tailor industry relationships whereby each partner benefits more by the matching that the nonprofit does on their behalf than if they would have sought out the business themselves. He asked the room to give a show of hands as to who was involved in manufacturing; more than half of the attendees were.
Wind energy, asserted Mr. Radomski, is “not just a good idea, but good business.” In 2008, due to legislation enacted, the United States surpassed Germany for its potential wind energy market share. Moreover, to meet the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) projection of 20% production of electricity from wind power by 2030, approximately 140, 000 more wind turbines will need to come on-line to meet the demand. And, as demand continues to exceed supply for off-the-shelf turbines, current trend prices for equipment will continue to rise until production capacity meets market demand.
Jim Walker, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA):
Wind power can be our immediate bridge between dirty coal and clean coal, which is not estimated to be a viable source of energy until 2020.
In 2009 we should expect production in wind capacity to slow, based on the economic downturn, but still be significant. We should also be thinking about a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), longer-term tax provisions allowing for greater investment and growth opportunities, and expanding and improving transmission networks (i.e., “smart grid”). Lastly, to motivate those present, Mr. Walker exhorted everyone to “get WAY more politically active.”
Marcia S. Black-Watson, DELEG and Linda Patrick, DELEG:
The traditional role of government in providing training and employment assistance has been to aid workers in building workforce skills. However, Governor Granholm’s Green Jobs Initiative (a component of the No Worker Left Behind program) will also help employers to assess what skills their employees need to have so that the company can succeed. The state will be conducting a series of focus groups with business and industry leaders to determine which specific job skills are needed to spur growth in the clean energy economy. The data are scheduled to be distributed at the May 11 Michigan Green Jobs Conference in Lansing.
Michael Stavy, Consulting Energy Economist (www.michaelstavy.com):
Can the wind industry make it without government regulation?
The largest investments in R&D are taking place in nuclear power generation. Level playing field means across ALL sectors of the (energy) industry. There’s nothing wrong with taxes if they’re used correctly.
