President’s Message
By Michael Bergey, DWEA President
This month I turn seventy, and it will be fifty years since I first worked on a small wind project. In 1974 I was asked to help with a student project at the University of Oklahoma to build a 5 kW, two-bladed, downwind, horizontal-axis wind turbine with full-span blade pitch for an international student design competition, SCORE. My father, Karl, was the university faculty advisor for the project. We built the turbine, took it to the SCORE test event at Sandia National Labs, and while we didn’t win, I came away with a passion for small wind. At the test event, I was particularly intrigued with a 3 kW straight-bladed, vertical-axis turbine with cyclic pitch which was built by a team from MIT and led by Herman Drees. Read more
Legislative Roundup
By Lloyd Ritter, DWEA Policy Director
I want to first congratulate our DWEA President Mike Bergey on his 50 years of distributed wind leadership! He’s had an amazing career and has a long way to go. I’ve only been an advocate for the industry since my Hill days as a senior counsel, about 25 years now. The passion we all bring to this endeavor is part of the “secret sauce” of distributed wind’s success, present and future.
We’ve been on a roll the past several years (e.g., IRA, including ITC extension, REAP money, Secretary Vilsack and Granholm’s joint agency “RAISE” initiative) thanks to that passion, as well as collective hard work and common-sense leadership from the Biden-Harris Administration and key members of Congress, on a bi-partisan basis.
But our work is never done. We are fighting for you all the time.
To that end, please note that late October’s REAP funding notice has more good news—it says that USDA intends to allocate approximately $120 million per year for the next three fiscal years, with grants of up to 50 percent cost-share, and a minimum of $20 million per year for renewable under-utilized technologies, like distributed wind power. There will also be technical assistance funds made available in the amount of about $10 million per year. This funding is more than double the traditional funds available via the Farm Bill. It’s incredible to see continued investment in distributed renewable technologies that are of particular benefit to rural America.
And I want to remind folks that—if you hadn’t heard—there is an election happening next week. Please VOTE if you are a U.S. citizen. It’s your civic duty. Democracy requires ongoing, informed engagement from the electorate. And our industry depends on thoughtful policy from our elected representatives.
While the Harris-Walz ticket promises much greater investment in battling the climate crisis, I will remind folks that a potential future Trump Administration might not be “anti-distributed wind power.” It’s clear the emphasis won’t be on climate should he win, and even more clear there are genuine policy risks, especially with regard to the IRA. But no matter what happens, we will engage and advocate.
We’ll have a deep dive on the next Federal Policy call regarding the election results and what it all means for DWEA and membership. Please join us!
Distributed Wind 2025 will be held Feb. 23-27 (Sunday-Thursday) at the Residence Inn Capital View hotel in Arlington, VA. Lobby Day will be Wednesday, Feb. 26th. Registration and discount hotel reservation links are live on DWEA’s homepage, along with information for sponsorships. Register today!
DWEA’s Annual Conference and Lobby Day is the one time each year that the distributed wind industry, those interested in the DW business opportunities, and federal RD&D leadership, researchers and contractors gather to speak, learn, and network.
Show your support for DWEA’s mission by signing up to be a DW25 sponsor. This year the Lightning Round presentation slots will be reserved for the first 6 Platinum sponsors. Gold Sponsors will be wait-listed, first come/first served, for any open Lightning Round slots still available as of Feb. 1, 2025. Other new sponsorship options include Lunch, Reception, and Diversity Sponsors.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Regulatory Updates
IRS Modifies Qualification for 45X Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 45X Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit provides a transferrable federal tax credit for domestic manufacturers of wind turbine components. In the legislation, there was no requirement that wind turbines be certified. In comments submitted in November 2022, DWEA pointed out the risk this posed to the Treasury Department from scammers. DWEA also noted certification was required for the distributed wind inverter tax credit in the original legislation. The IRS agreed with DWEA and, in initial 45X guidance issued in December 2023, the agency instituted a certification requirement. However, in what DWEA believes was a drafting error, the IRS required certification to ACP-101-1-2021. This was a problem, because all the current certified small turbines are certified to the original certification standard, AWEA-9.1-2009. DWEA submitted comments on this provision, requesting the IRS to include the earlier standard and highlighting that both standards were listed for the inverter tax credit.
In additional 45X guidance, which was published in the Oct. 28 Federal Register, the IRS accepted DWEA’s request. See the following excerpt on page 16, under the heading “Total Rated Capacity of the Completed Wind Turbine”:
“Another commenter recommended including both American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) 9.1-2009 and ANSI/ACP 101-1-2021 as acceptable wind turbine certification standards. The commenter explained that ANSI/ACP 101-1-2021 is a revision of the AWEA standard (the original small wind certification standard, and all currently certified small wind systems are certified to this standard) that streamlines the certification process, but there is no requirement that turbines with the original certification must recertify to the new ANSI/ACP standard. Thus, the commenter states that including both standards in the final rules will allow currently certified turbines made in the United States to earn section 45X credits as well as new turbines currently in the certification process following the newer standard. The Treasury Department and the IRS agree with this request and these final regulations revise proposed §1.45X-3(c)(6) to add both AWEA 9.1-2009 and ANSI/ACP 101-1-2021 as acceptable wind turbine certification standards.”
“This is another example of the value of the federal policy engagement that DWEA provides,” said DWEA President Mike Bergey.
Fall 2024 Peer-Learning Cohort Offers Opportunities to DWEA Members
Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) offers peer-learning cohorts to advance local clean energy goals. Peer-learning cohorts are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with support from the World Resources Institute.
The three peer-learning cohorts include:
- Planning for Microgrids to Increase Energy Resilience
- Expanding Capacity for Distributed Wind in Rural and Agricultural Communities
- Renewable Energy and Efficiency Improvements in Appalachia
To participate, you had to apply by Thursday, Oct. 31. Hopefully, many DWEA members took advantage of this program. Each peer-learning cohort will commence in January 2025. Click here for more details about the program.
Peer-learning cohorts are multi-community engagements that convene community entities around a common clean energy transition topic. Participants meet regularly for approximately 6 months to exchange strategies and best practices, learn in a collaborative environment, and workshop policy or program proposals, action plans, or strategies to overcome challenges.
In each cohort, experts provide up to 15 participants with case studies, analysis and modeling tools, templates, training materials, and facilitated collaboration to enable accelerated clean energy progress.
Nearly 200 community entities have participated in one of 12 cohorts.
Member News
Learn How to Access AgWind Technical Assistance Nov. 7
Attend this Zoom call with your peers on Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. ET for an introduction to the Distributed Wind Energy Association’s AgWind Technical Assistance funded by USDA for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) applications. The free call will explore:
Financial incentives – up to 90% of cost – for certified small wind turbines for farms, ranches, homes, and businesses.
Quick demo of AgWind Tool – Wind Turbine Performance & Economics Evaluation no-cost feasibility report for REAP applications!
Connecting property owners to check wind resources and see if a wind turbine will work for on-site generation.
Register here to attend and feel free to send any questions that you may have in advance of the call.
More information is available on the AgWind website. To request a password to access the AgWind Tool, email: help@agwindEnergy.org.
Send in the Cows!
By Dan Clunies, Harmony Energy Solutions
We kicked off an exciting farm show season at the Aug. 6-8 Minnesota Farmfest in Morgan, Minnesota. This is one of the largest farm shows in Minnesota, a key state for distributed wind development with its vast wind resources and favorable net-metering policies. Read more
Events
- AgWind/REAP DWEA office hours (virtual), Nov. 15, 2 p.m. ET. Register here.
- DWEA Service Provider Committee virtual meeting, Nov. 21, 1 p.m. ET. Contact Trudy Forsyth at trudyforsyth2@gmail.com for information.
- DWEA Federal Policy Update, Nov. 21, 3 p.m. ET. Click here to join Zoom.
- DWEA Service Provider Committee virtual meeting, Dec. 19, 1 p.m. ET. Contact Trudy Forsyth at trudyforsyth2@gmail.com for information.
- DWEA Federal Policy Update, Dec. 19, 3 p.m. ET. Click here to join Zoom.
- AgWind/REAP DWEA office hours (virtual), Dec. 20, 2 p.m. ET. Register here.
- Distributed Wind 2025 Conference & Lobby Day, Arlington, Virginia, Feb. 23-27, 2025. Save the Date!