by DWEA Site Admin | Apr 3, 2014 | News
FOR MORE INFO: Lauren Glickman
Email: Lglickman@distributedwind.org
Tel: 504-258-7955
Grassley/Cantwell Amendment adds 2-year extension of ITC to Senate Tax Extenders
Washington, D.C., April 3rd – Further Congressional action was taken today to address many of the tax extenders that expired earlier this year, a 2 year extension of ITC for distributed wind was added to the Senate Finance Committee’s package of tax extenders during today’s mark-up. Senators Grassley, Cantwell, Brown, Bennet, Cardin, Carper, Menendez, Nelson, and Stabenow offered the amendment that was accepted to include the ITC (along with the PTC for utility scaled wind power) in the bill.
“I am pleased with today’s decision to include the ITC in the broader package to address expired tax extenders,” said Jennifer Jenkins, Executive Director of the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA). “A renewed ITC will provide business certainty to the community and distributed wind segments of the wind industry that are generally unable to utilize the PTC and enable them to continue to drive economic development across farms, schools, business, and communities across the country often a multiplier of economic impact to the local community.”
Distributed wind projects are present in all 50 states, providing clean, homegrown, affordable power and economic development across the United States. These systems are commonly, but not always, installed on residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial, and community sites and can range in size from a few-hundred-watt, off-grid turbine at a remote cabin or a 5-kW turbine at a home to a multi-MW turbine at a manufacturing facility
“I applaud Members of Congress including of course the amendment sponsors, and Chairman Wyden, who continue to see the ITC for what it is, an example of an effective, job-creating tax policy,” Jennifer continued. “Allowing it to expire has put American jobs at risk. Today’s vote represents a step in the right direction and I look forward to continuing down this path.”
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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 attract 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 DWEA Site Admin | Mar 21, 2014 | News
Over 100 representatives and nearly 30 senators deliver unified message to Congress asking for immediate extension of investment tax credit
Washington, D.C., March 21st – Distributed Wind Energy Association Executive Director Jennifer Jenkins issued the following statement today as nearly 30 Senators and over 100 Representatives delivered letters requesting immediate extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for distributed American wind energy:
“I want to thank Representatives King and Loebsack and Senators Udall and Grassley for their leadership on this issue along with their colleagues in the House and Senate for fighting for American wind jobs. They understand that distributed wind power is providing Americans with clean and affordable electricity in every state while putting Americans to work. The ITC is an effective, job-creating tax policy, but allowing it to expire has put these American jobs at risk. That is why Congress must act now to extend the ITC and keep this American success story moving forward.”
What is Distributed Wind?
Distributed wind energy systems are commonly, but not always, installed on residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial, and community sites and can range in size from a few-hundred-watt, off-grid turbine at a remote cabin or a 5-kW turbine at a home to a multi-MW turbine at a manufacturing facility.
Distributed wind energy systems are connected either physically or virtually on the customer side of the meter (to serve onsite load) or directly to the local distribution or micro grid (to support grid operations or offset large loads nearby). This distinction differentiates distributed wind power from wholesale power generated at utility-scale wind farms and sent via transmission lines to substations for subsequent distribution to loads.
FOR MORE INFO: Lauren Glickman
Email: Lglickman@distributedwind.org
Tel: 504-258-7955
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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 attract 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
by DWEA Site Admin | Mar 3, 2014 | News
Industry advocates often talk about wind farms contributing revenue to local communities, so it’s nice to hear specific and tangible examples of wind power at work on the ground (that is, as opposed to 80-plus meters in the air, working to generate clean electrons). So here’s one.
In Ohio Iberdrola Renewables, along with State Senator Cliff Hite and State Representative Tony Burkley, this week presented checks to local officials in both Van Wert and Paulding counties to commemorate the first of the annual payments the wind power company’s Blue Creek Wind Farm will be making to the counties.
Speaking of tangible examples, it’s interesting to take a look at both the sheer dollars contributed as well as how those funding levels are calculated (usually by number of turbines).
Photo credit: Iberdrola Renewables
Iberdrola injected Van Wert County, which hosts 115 turbines, with over $2 million, making the wind farm the largest single taxpayer in the county. That figure, in fact, is equal to the current top 11 revenue contributors combined as of 2012. Wind farms often generate revenue for communities that need it most, and so the statistic concerning the top 11 revenue contributors is a case in point. Paulding County, meanwhile, received $666,000, based on the 37 turbines located in the county that each pay $18,000 per year.
As the wind farm is spread across two counties, six townships – Tully, Union, and Hoaglin in Van Wert County and Benton, Blue Creek and Latty in Paulding County – and four school districts, the project’s contributions to localities will be spread far and wide. The townships will each see an average of $1,400 per year per turbine. With 76 wind turbines, Union Township will see a revenue boost of 25-30 percent in 2014 compared to 2013.
“These funds support projects and services that benefit everyone across the region, from schools, public safety and public health programs, to road repairs,” said State Representative Tony Burkley (R-Payne). “It’s great to see this kind of investment in northwest Ohio, and it’s better to see the benefits have such a positive impact on the people who live and work here.”
The school districts will see the lion’s share of revenue. With 81 turbines spinning within its boundaries, Crestview Schools will see about $850,000 per year in new revenue, a boost of about 10 percent.
“This is my 40th year in education and I don’t think I have ever seen a source of revenue like this offer itself to a school district like this,” said Crestview Superintendent Mike Estes. “It’s really a windfall for us.”
Now, just imagine the additional community revenue trickling through from the 500 jobs created during construction, the $25 million spurred in local spending, the 30 local companies that worked on the project, et cetera et cetera. Those are some good, tangible benefits. And we haven’t even begun to talk about what the wind farm is built for, the product it will give the region: clean, fuel-free electrons.
As a footnote, here are some extra-curricular initiatives Iberdrola has sponsored in the community:
Flat Rock Creek Festival
Friends of the Paulding Chamber, Inc.
Iberdrola Renewables Scholarship Fund administered by the Van Wert County Foundation
John Paulding Historical Society
Paulding County Youth Baseball
Van Wert County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau’s Rib Fest
Van Wert County Historical Society
Van Wert Elementary School book fair
Van Wert County Junior Fair
Vantage Career Center
Village of Convoy Fire Department
Iberdrola is not unique among developers in its good-neighbor giving. First Wind, for example, is just one name that comes to mind for reaching out to the community in multiple ways. Does your company have some community-participation information you’d like to share? Share your story in the comments.
This is cross posted from AWEA’s Into the Wind Blog written by Carl Levesque.
by DWEA Site Admin | Feb 28, 2014 | News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb 28, 2014
FOR MORE INFO: Lauren Glickman
Email: Lglickman@distributedwind.org
Tel: 504-258-7955
Blumenauer Receives Legislator of the Year Award from the Distributed Wind Energy Association
WASHINGTON – Representative Earl Blumenauer today received a Legislator of the Year Award from the Distributed Wind Energy Association for his true leadership for distributed wind power.
Mike Bergey of Bergey Windpower, Steve Shum of Xzeres Wind and Jennifer Jenkins of the Distributed Wind Energy Association presented the Congressman with the award. Blumenauer successfully led efforts in Congress to enact the small wind Investment Tax Credit (ITC). His efforts have not stopped there. He has been a champion of the industry on many fronts, including the pursuit of more distributed wind funding from the Department of Energy.
“I am very grateful for this award,” said Congressman Blumenauer. “Wind energy is a key part of our renewable energy mix. Investing in wind diversifies our energy supply and strengthens our resilience to energy related challenges, while improving our national energy security. I will continue working as hard as I can to support wind energy and ensure that it remains a strong and viable option for millions of Americans and creates living wage, non-exportable jobs.”
“I want to thank Congressman Blumenauer for his strong support of distributed wind power and this American success story.,” said Jennifer Jenkins, Executive Director of the Distributed Wind Energy Association. “Our industry is at a critical crossroads, but with his leadership on driving policies, we are provided with the certainty we need to continue to grow.”
Distributed wind is present in all 50 states, stimulating local economies and providing American jobs. Compared to traditional, centralized power plants, distributed wind energy installations directly supply power to the local grid near homes, farms, businesses and communities– helping to improve grid reliability and efficiency. Turbines used in these applications can range in size from a few hundred watts to multi-megawatts, and can help power remote, off-grid homes and farms as well as local schools and manufacturing facilities. Distributed wind installations comprise more than 68% of all wind turbines installed in the United States (on a unit basis) over the past ten years.
In Oregon, the State’s natural wind resources generate approximately 1700 megawatts of electricity. That’s enough power to meet the needs of nearly 700,000 average American homes. Oregon currently has the 5th most wind power capacity installed of any state.
“As an Oregon based manufacturer with over 9,000 turbines installed around the world, XZERES Corp sincerely appreciates Congressman Blumenauer’s support and confidence that distributed wind systems have a place in today’s energy landscape. Our Skystream 2.4kW and 442SR 10kW small wind turbines are found throughout Oregon, powering schools, farms, homes, wineries and more and we look forward to further progress domestically to compliment our global efforts”, stated XZERES CFO Steve Shum.
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 attract 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. Join us for Distributed Wind 2014: A Capitol Hill Event for Small and Community Wind on February 27-28 in Washington, D.C.
by DWEA Site Admin | Feb 27, 2014 | News
**Media Availability** Leaders in distributed wind power deliver their stories to Congress
“Wind Week” continues as Distributed wind industry heads to the hill
February 27, 2014
What: The Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) kicked off its third annual Lobby Day in Washington, DC today. After a full day of lobbying on Capitol Hill, there will be a business conference that focuses on industry trends. Small business owners from across the country joined together to deliver their stories to Congress in addition to the stories of their colleagues in utility-scale and offshore wind energy. Distributed wind is present in all 50 states, stimulating local economies and providing American jobs.
Who: Mike Bergey, President, Bergey Windpower
Brett Pingree, VP of Sales, Endurance Wind Power
Tal Mamo, President and Co-Founder, UNITED WIND
Haley Roberto, President, HTWN
Where: DWEA Business Conference-JW Marriot, Washington, D.C.
February 28, 2014
8:00AM – 3:25 PM
To RSVP for Friday’s Business Conference or for follow up contact Lauren Glickman Communications Manager, DWEA, lglickman@distributedwind.org, 504-258-7955
About the companies:
Bergey Windpower is the oldest and most experienced manufacturer of residential-sized wind turbines in the world. Thirty years ago Bergey pioneered the radically-simple “Bergey design” that has proven to provide the best reliability, performance, service life, and value of all of the hundreds of competitive products that have come and gone in that time. With only three moving parts and no scheduled maintenance necessary, the Bergey 10 kW has compiled a service record that no other wind turbine can match. We back it up with the longest warranty in the industry.
Endurance Wind Power (“Endurance”) is a manufacturer of advanced wind turbines designed specifically for distributed wind power applications. Our line of modern,induction-based wind turbines brings efficient, reliable, safe and quiet renewable energy to homeowners, businesses and institutions across Europe, North America and an expanding global market.
UNITED WIND was formed in 2013 as a combination of assets and talent from the two industry-leading small wind companies: Talco Electronics and Wind Analytics. Talco, founded in 2000, sold more than 150 turbines and was the leading distributor of small wind turbines in the United States. Wind Analytics, founded in 2007, was the only company to offer a third-party verified remote wind speed analysis tool, empowering potential small wind turbine owners with a low-cost site assessment. With the best of Talco and Wind Analytics together, United Wind is the only company that has the knowledge and capability to offer the first ever little-to-no money down leasing option to small wind customers in the United States.
HTWN has become a national leader for clean distributed energy solutions by redefining sustainability in the distributed market. HTWN has supported the successful installation of over 170 distributed wind projects. Our dealers have been trained over the last 5 years on how to properly identify customers, provide site assessments and pro-formas, sell, service and support the projects for the lifetime of the equipment. With our professional HTWN team of Engineers, Finance, Project Management, Marketing, Technical and Service Support we are able to embrace a new technology and properly educate our vast network in implementation.
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 attract 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. Join us for Distributed Wind 2014: A Capitol Hill Event for Small and Community Wind on February 27-28 in Washington, D.C.
by DWEA Site Admin | Feb 24, 2014 | News
SMALL WIND, Planning and Building Successful Installations is a new book written by R. Nolan Clark to provide a cohesive guide to achieving successful installations of wind systems that are less than 100 kW in size. The wind industry has grown to the point that there are different focuses and needs for the various segments that depend on the size and potential use of the wind power generated. Most small wind machines are connected on the user side of the electric meter rather than to the main grid lines as with larger machines and thus has different requirements, regulations, and management issues. Other small machines are operated totally independent of the electrical grid and have another set of requirements and management issues. This book addresses these small wind system issues and focuses on what many people consider the two main concerns that cause installation to be unsuccessful or low performers. Site selection is one of the items that cause many good machines to perform poorly. Small Wind: Planning and Building Successful Installations gives detailed information about selecting an optimum site for a wind turbine, including selecting the right tower height for the location. Having the wind turbine in the right location to harvest the wind resource is of upmost importance.
Secondly, methods for selecting the right equipment to meet the anticipated loads are also provided. Information is provided for meeting loads for grid connected systems depending on the type of interconnection contract that is available and suggestions how to manage the loads to better match the wind resources are given. Now that small wind certification reports are available for many small machines, information is given how to use these reports to select machines that are reliable, have low noise, and measured performance.
Information is given on what is required to install a small wind machine including permitting, interconnection contracts, foundations, and contracting with installers. Information is also included about what is required after the machine is installed and how to manage and maintain the machine for a long life and achieving the best possible energy production.
Small Wind: Planning and Building Successful Installations is written for engineers who are called upon to plan small wind projects and foundations. It identifies and explains the critical issues for small wind installations, including siting, turbine choice, applications and permitting, economics, load management and grid integration. It would also be useful to dealers and installers to use with knowledgeable customers to guide them through the planning and building phases of a project.
R. Nolan Clark has worked as researcher and development engineer in the wind industry for 35 years and has had extensive experience in operating small wind machines for many applications including grid connected machines, remote water pumping systems, and wind-diesel systems. Much of his work was funded by the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy. He currently is a small wind systems consultant and is a certification commissioner with the Small Wind Certification Council.
The book is published by Elsevier Publishers and is available in hardback printed copies or in an electronic version. The ISBN No. is 978-0-12-385999-0. The list price is $79.95.
