by Britton Rife | Feb 16, 2017 | News
For more information
Jennifer Jenkins, DWEA Executive Director
jjenkins@distributedwind.org, 928-380-6012
February 16, 2017 – Last night Representatives Tom Reed (R-NY) and Mike Thompson (D-CA), re-introduced legislation to provide a multi-year extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for small-scale wind power, and other clean energy technologies. The bill is titled the “Technologies for Energy Security Act” providing parity with solar energy’s tax extension passed into law in 2015. Notably the legislation would extend both the business and residential ITC through 2021.
“Distributed wind power provide benefits to rural communities and small businesses across the country. We applaud Reps. Reed, Thompson and the other original co-sponsors for their leadership in introducing this legislation,” stated Jennifer Jenkins, Executive Director of DWEA. “Support for distributed wind power grows America’s small businesses and supports the growth of U.S. manufacturing jobs. It also builds economic opportunity and energy self- sufficiency in rural towns from Maine to California,”
“Distributed wind will expand the way solar has in recent years, but it takes smart, timely Federal policies to bring the technology’s potential to reality. This bill moves us much further in that direction,” said Mike Bergey, DWEA’s President.
Allowing the ITC to expire puts jobs and rural small businesses at risk, and consumers left with less “energy choice.” “It’s a real shame that homeowners can get a federal tax credit on an imported solar system, but not a small wind turbine built in America. This bill fixes that,” noted Bergey.
DWEA would also like to thank the bill’s additional original co-sponsors, Republicans Pat Meehan, Tom Cole, Dave Reichert, John Faso, Todd Rokita, Markwayne Mullin, Mia Love, Frank Lobiondo, Rob Blum, David Young, and Democrats Earl Blumenauer, John Larson, Paul Tonko, Ron Kind, Mark Pocan, and Tony Cardenas.
DWEA projects 30 gigawatts by 2030 and tens of thousands of new jobs with the right policies in place. DWEA’s white paper can be found here: https://distributedwind.org/wp- content/uploads/2012/08/DWEA-Distributed-Wind-Vision.pdf
About the Distributed Wind Energy Association
The Distributed Wind Energy Association is a collaborative group comprised of manufacturers, distributors, project developers, dealers, installers, and advocates, whose primary mission is to promote and foster all aspects of the American distributed wind energy industry. Distributed wind, commonly referred to as small and community wind, is the use of typically smaller wind turbines at homes, farms, businesses, and public facilities to off-set all or a portion of on-site energy consumption. DWEA seeks to represent members and associates from all sectors with relevant interests pertaining to the distributed wind industry. For more information on DWEA, please go to www.distributedwind.org. Follow us on Twitter @DWEA and like us on Facebook
by Britton Rife | Dec 9, 2016 | News
This video was sourced from The Atlantic’s American Futures project.
by Britton Rife | Nov 22, 2016 | News
DOE study Confirms Vast Untapped Energy and Jobs Potential for Distributed Wind Energy Systems
November 22, 2016
Durango, CO – Today the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), under the direction and funding of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), released a first-ever technical and economic analysis of distributed wind power’s potential in the U.S. Distributed wind typically means smaller wind turbines installed at homes, farms, businesses, and public facilities where they serve to reduce consumer’s electric bills. The key finding in the new study is that distributed wind could be installed at millions of locations nationwide and has the technical potential to power the entire U.S. electrical system.
“Solar has received tremendous federal and state support over the last three decades. This new DOE report shows that a more modest set of similar programs aimed at distributed wind could yield huge benefits. Particularly since this is ‘made-in-America’ equipment” said Jennifer Jenkins, Executive Director of the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA).
Several takeaways include:
- Distributed wind power’s total addressable resource potential is comparable to wind farms and offshore wind, potentially supporting millions of systems and thousands of gigawatts of power production capacity;
- In aggregate terms, the resource potential for this sector “exceeds total U.S. electricity demand,” which comprised approximately 3,700 TWh of electricity in 2015;
- “Behind the meter” distributed wind turbines are technically feasible for a large portion of the U.S. building stock, including “about 49.5 million buildings”;
- Major increases in electricity production (and corresponding rural economic development) from this sector are quite possible, especially with policies that have been successful with solar;
- Community or “locally owned” wind power is not assessed in this modeling, but if it were, it is believed to have “significant additional potential” not captured within the scope of the current analysis
“This report is timely because Congress has the opportunity over the next few weeks to fix an omission in last year’s spending bill that provided a five-year extension of solar tax credits but did not do the same for small wind. Hopefully we won’t be giving tax credits for imported solar modules that aren’t available to small wind systems built in America. This new report shows that we’d be throwing away lots of U.S. manufacturing jobs” stated Mike Bergey, President of DWEA.
For a copy of the report please click on this link: http://energy.gov/eere/articles/new-report-shows-potential-growth-distributed-wind-energy-site-power
About the Distributed Wind Energy Association: The Distributed Wind Energy Association is a collaborative group comprised of manufacturers, distributors, project developers, dealers, installers, and advocates, whose primary mission is to promote and foster all aspects of the American distributed wind energy industry. Distributed wind, commonly referred to as small and community wind, is the use of typically smaller wind turbines at homes, farms, businesses, and public facilities to off-set all or a portion of on-site energy consumption. DWEA seeks to represent members and associates from all sectors with relevant interests pertaining to the distributed wind industry. For more information on DWEA, please go to www.distributedwind.org. Follow us on Twitter @DWEA and like us on Facebook.
For more information:
Jennifer Jenkins, DWEA Executive Director
jjenkins@distributedwind.org, 928-380-6012
by Britton Rife | Jun 9, 2016 | News
U.S. Department of Energy Announces Partnership with DWEA to Support Wind for Schools Program
May 23, 2016
The Wind Program announced that the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) has been selected as a partner to support the long-term sustainability of the Wind for Schools program. The selection is part of a broader effort by the Department to support the growth of the Wind for Schools network and diversify sources of funding to allow for more schools nationwide to be able to participate in the program. Over the course of nine months, DWEA’s project team will work with the existing Wind for Schools participants to further the initiative’s mission of bringing wind education to the classroom through experiential learning. The selection was announced at The Department’s Wind Workforce Development and Education Summit held in New Orleans, Louisiana, May 22nd–23rd.
Wind for Schools currently supports a network of rural K-12 public schools and higher education institutions in Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Each K-12 school hosts a wind turbine, with installation and curriculum supported by students and faculty working with a Wind Application Center at a partner university in their state. The K-12 host school incorporates their school’s wind turbine into their classroom as a way to support interactive and interschool research tasks that inspire and demonstrate novel approaches to teach science and involve K-12 students in their communities. Students at higher education institutions are also engaged as they serve as project consultants at the Wind Application Centers. DWEA’s partnership in Wind for Schools will support the existing Wind Application Centers as well as help to make connections with industry and help additional states, universities and schools to join.
Subscribe to the WINDExchange’s newsletter, which goes out every other week to receive regular updates and announcements from the DWEA Wind for Schools Sustainability Plan development team.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. Go to wind.energy.gov to learn more about our Wind Power Program’s funding opportunities and efforts to develop innovative technologies capable of generating renewable, environmentally friendly, cost-competitive electricity from wind resources. To learn more about the WINDExchange’s Wind for Schools program, view the Wind for Schools website.
by Britton Rife | May 12, 2016 | News
SMART Wind Roadmap pinpoints top actions to innovate and boost U.S.-led distributed wind manufacturing
May 11, 2016
DWEA and Sustainable Manufacturing, Advanced Research & Technology (SMART) Wind Consortium publish shared-vision Roadmap of key strategies to reduce lifecycle costs, maintain high quality, and expand production volumes
Virtual Briefing to be hosted by DWEA in Partnership with WINDExchange
3-4:30 p.m. ET May 18
Durango, CO – After 2 years of gathering stakeholder input and reaching industry and academic consensus, production of the SMART Wind Roadmap is now complete. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia program, the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) convened the SMART Wind Consortium to identify industry-wide research and manufacturing gaps and barriers, prioritize solutions to those gaps for today and for future scalability, and facilitate a rapid transfer of innovation into American manufactured wind turbines.
“Collaborating and partnering on these critical actions will help U.S. manufacturers drive down costs, innovate, scale, and remain global leaders in expanding deployment of micro wind turbines worldwide,” said Primus Wind Power CEO Randy Brodsky. “This landmark Roadmap charts a clear path forward to increase American jobs, competitiveness and market share in the growing distributed generation sector.”
Managed by eFormative Options and Wind Advisors Team, the SMART Wind Consortium has linked together more than 2 dozen distributed wind energy equipment manufacturers, 50 other vendors and industry supply chain members, researchers from 4 federal laboratories, 30 academic stakeholders, and nearly 20 nonprofit organizations, government representatives and other stakeholders. This initiative will open up new market opportunities and expand the number of distributed wind applications, thereby maintaining U.S. global competitiveness and leadership.
“Our vision is to inspire joint industry-academic R&D investments to advance innovative manufacturing techniques and aid rapid distributed wind growth both domestically and with exports,” said SMART Wind Project Manager Heather Rhoads-Weaver. “As both developing and industrialized nations seek to address climate and economic challenges, the U.S. distributed wind industry stands poised to provide cost-effective solutions and claim its share of the multi-trillion dollar global microgrid boom.”
Join SMART Wind Consortium leaders for a 90-minute briefing highlighting the top-priority action steps identified to address key distributed wind industry barriers and opportunities. The DWEA/WINDExchange May 18 SMART Wind Roadmap web briefing is free but space is limited, so pre-registration is encouraged: https://distributedwind.org/event/smart-wind-roadmapwindexchange-webinar
by Britton Rife | Oct 27, 2015 | News
Dear DWEA Members,
With 2016 rapidly approaching, we are focused on implementing a strategy that is necessary to have a powerful and lasting impact on the distributed wind market. Part of this process has been re-evaluating our membership levels to enhance value and benefit to your company.
The new membership levels described in the attached document allow each member company to contribute to DWEA’s Federal and State programs. Members will also receive additional benefits to access industry leaders and current market data to help you and your team find success in the industry.
Highlights of the new membership levels:
- 50% of dues go to Federal program above Industry Support level*
- 25% of dues go to State policy match program Industry Support level*
- Discounted registration to DWEA, AWEA, and WWEA events*
- Free monthly webinars*
- Participation in Committee updates
- Inclusion in Annual Buyer’s Guide*
* Indicates new value adds to DWEA members
In addition to these new levels, members are invited to join the DWEA Leadership Circle. This level of dues includes; high visibility of your company on the DWEA website, all DWEA events, newsletters, and webinars. This is a great opportunity to establish your company’s brand as a leader in the industry, but also to support the organization’s efforts on the Federal and State level. Contact me directly if you are interested in more information on how to join the Leadership Circle.
Here’s looking forward to success in 2016. We are ready to fight for you and your team, provide a seat at the table during critical policy discussions, and deliver up to date information to create a real impact on the distributed wind market.
Onward,
Jennifer Jenkins
