Green Energy News | June 18, 2000

June 18, 2000 – Vol.5 No.12

ENERGIES... week of June 18, 2000

WIND POWER DEMAND CREATES JOBS. The growing market in North America for wind energy has encouraged the world’s largest turbine manufacturer - Vestas - to set up shop in the States. With assistance and incentives from the city government, the Danish manufacturer will build a wind turbine factory in Pueblo, Colorado. The new Vestas Wind Systems factory will be the first in America for the company. Vestas will also move its U.S corporate headquarters from North Palm Springs, California to Pueblo.

Aside from the 70 jobs at the new headquarters, the factory could eventually employ as many as 600. To lure the company to the city, the Pueblo Economic Development Corporation (PEDCo) designed a package of incentives such as enterprise zone tax credits, personal property tax waivers, and cash for worker training and site preparation.

Vestas has sold more than 10,000 turbines worldwide and has a 30 percent market share in the industry. Visit Vestas at http://www.vestas-awt.com/ and PEDCo http://www.pedco.org/ .

OAKLAND GOES GREEN. In response to the Oakland, California City Council’s announcement that it will purchase green power for municipal facilities, once California Governor, occasional presidential candidate, now Mayor of Oakland, and always supporter of the environment Jerry Brown said, “ Local governments must show the way to energy independence by buying green power. When enough cities convert to sustainable energy the federal government will get the message and start reducing our addiction to fossil fuel.”

For $4 million each year the City will purchase roughly 9 megawatts of renewable energy - equivalent power for 27,000 homes - from ABAG Power, the Energy Service Provider arm of the Association of Bay Area Governments. Oakland chose ABAG over other proposals for best price and its willingness to supply power from new renewables. The percentage of new renewables will increase each year, meaning that new generating capacity must be built to meet demand. By 2004 the City should be receiving 20 percent of its power from new installations.

Oakland’s purchase is the largest municipal renewable power purchase in the world. The City joins Santa Monica, Chula Vista and Santa Barbara in buying green power. Other cities in California - San Jose, Santa Cruz, Davis and Petaluma - are in the process of preparing Requests for Proposals to do the same. Visit ABAG Power at http://www.abag.ca.gov/services/power/index.html .

SOLAR SPROUTS IN ARIZONA TOWN. In a vote of 5 - 0 the Town of Gilbert town council approved a plan for a 125 kilowatt solar power plant to be built adjacent to one of the town’s ground water recharge sites and incorporated into a migratory bird refuge.

The solar facility will be grid connected, and when complete this October, will supply enough power for 25-40 homes. For $2.64 per month the developer, APS, will offer 15 kilowatt hours of photovoltaic power per month to its Solar Partner customers. The $800,000 facility is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Utility Photovoltaic Group.

APS, using its Solar Partners Program plans to have one megawatt of PV power installed this year. Visit APS at http://www.apsc.com/