Largest-ever wind power conference to be held in Pittsburgh
Posted: Sunday, June 04, 2006
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Thousands are expected to gather in Pittsburgh next week for the country's largest-ever conference on wind power, an energy resource that has undergone a significant revival in recent years.
Federal and state officials and company executives will join more than 4,500 attendees at Windpower 2006 from June 4-7, said Christine Real de Azua, a spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association.
The annual conference will feature product demonstrations by more than 290 companies, an awards banquet honoring people who have promoted wind energy and educational sessions with government and industry leaders.
Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania will open the conference and discuss the importance of wind energy to their states.
Northwest Iowa is home to several wind farms, including MidAmerican Energy's 122-turbine Intrepid project in Buena Vista and Sac counties near Schaller. MidAmerican, Iowa's largest utility, last month announced plans to double the amount of wind energy it produces. The first phase of the expansion will be built in Carroll and Crawford counties. The 99-megawatt is scheduled to be completed in 2006.
Wind farms began appearing in California in the 1980s, but have proliferated over the past six years, becoming part of the landscape in the Midwest and other sections of the country.
As of December, California had the country's greatest wind power capacity, followed by Texas, Iowa, Minnesota and Oklahoma. In Europe, where the industry is larger, Denmark derives 20 percent of its electricity from wind.
Wind energy represents a tiny fraction of overall U.S. electrical supply, but last year became the second-largest source of new power after natural gas, according to Real de Azua.
A record number of turbines were installed last year in the United States, with more than $3 billion in power-generating equipment installed in 22 states. About 30 states now have wind farms, she said.
Demand for wind energy is strong, particularly with rising natural gas prices and the low environmental impact of turbines, which have no emissions or need for fuel, Real de Azua said.
But some detractors say wind farms ruin skylines, endanger wildlife and encroach on property. Activist groups such as Friends of the Allegheny Front have fought plans to build commercial wind energy facilities.
Randal Swisher, the AWEA's executive director, said such critics "don't pay a lot of attention to the truth," adding that all major environmental groups "have been extremely supportive of wind."
The theme of this year's conference, held in Pennsylvania partly because of the state's efforts to introduce wind power, is "Energizing the Future: Bringing Wind Energy More Prominently into the Mainstream."
Swisher said the conference is well timed to capture "a very dynamic industry that has stepped up to a new level of commercial competitiveness and is really prepared to go head-to-head with gas and coal and nuclear."
While the wind power industry has grown substantially -- AWEA's membership has jumped to more than 850 members from 201 over the past five years -- it needs better infrastructure and supportive policies, he said.
"The transmission lines we have need to be upgraded to carry more power, or in some regions we will need new transmission lines connecting the wind resource centers to the population centers," Swisher said.
Inconsistent policies are also a hurdle for the industry, he said, pointing to federal subsidies such as a production tax credit that has expired and been extended by Congress several times.
Uncertainty over the tax credit has made equipment makers reluctant to build infrastructure necessary for the industry to grow, Swisher said.
"New technology is being developed," he said. "All kinds of things are possible."
Journal business editor Dave Dreeszen contributed to this story.
On the Net:
Windpower 2006: http://www.eshow2000.com/awea/
Friends of the Allegheny Front: http://www.friendsofthealleghenyfront.org/
Federal and state officials and company executives will join more than 4,500 attendees at Windpower 2006 from June 4-7, said Christine Real de Azua, a spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association.
The annual conference will feature product demonstrations by more than 290 companies, an awards banquet honoring people who have promoted wind energy and educational sessions with government and industry leaders.
Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania will open the conference and discuss the importance of wind energy to their states.
Northwest Iowa is home to several wind farms, including MidAmerican Energy's 122-turbine Intrepid project in Buena Vista and Sac counties near Schaller. MidAmerican, Iowa's largest utility, last month announced plans to double the amount of wind energy it produces. The first phase of the expansion will be built in Carroll and Crawford counties. The 99-megawatt is scheduled to be completed in 2006.
Wind farms began appearing in California in the 1980s, but have proliferated over the past six years, becoming part of the landscape in the Midwest and other sections of the country.
As of December, California had the country's greatest wind power capacity, followed by Texas, Iowa, Minnesota and Oklahoma. In Europe, where the industry is larger, Denmark derives 20 percent of its electricity from wind.
Wind energy represents a tiny fraction of overall U.S. electrical supply, but last year became the second-largest source of new power after natural gas, according to Real de Azua.
A record number of turbines were installed last year in the United States, with more than $3 billion in power-generating equipment installed in 22 states. About 30 states now have wind farms, she said.
Demand for wind energy is strong, particularly with rising natural gas prices and the low environmental impact of turbines, which have no emissions or need for fuel, Real de Azua said.
But some detractors say wind farms ruin skylines, endanger wildlife and encroach on property. Activist groups such as Friends of the Allegheny Front have fought plans to build commercial wind energy facilities.
Randal Swisher, the AWEA's executive director, said such critics "don't pay a lot of attention to the truth," adding that all major environmental groups "have been extremely supportive of wind."
The theme of this year's conference, held in Pennsylvania partly because of the state's efforts to introduce wind power, is "Energizing the Future: Bringing Wind Energy More Prominently into the Mainstream."
Swisher said the conference is well timed to capture "a very dynamic industry that has stepped up to a new level of commercial competitiveness and is really prepared to go head-to-head with gas and coal and nuclear."
While the wind power industry has grown substantially -- AWEA's membership has jumped to more than 850 members from 201 over the past five years -- it needs better infrastructure and supportive policies, he said.
"The transmission lines we have need to be upgraded to carry more power, or in some regions we will need new transmission lines connecting the wind resource centers to the population centers," Swisher said.
Inconsistent policies are also a hurdle for the industry, he said, pointing to federal subsidies such as a production tax credit that has expired and been extended by Congress several times.
Uncertainty over the tax credit has made equipment makers reluctant to build infrastructure necessary for the industry to grow, Swisher said.
"New technology is being developed," he said. "All kinds of things are possible."
Journal business editor Dave Dreeszen contributed to this story.
On the Net:
Windpower 2006: http://www.eshow2000.com/awea/
Friends of the Allegheny Front: http://www.friendsofthealleghenyfront.org/
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