LINCOLN, KAN. — The line of towering wind turbines stands motionless on the ridgeline above Interstate 70 in central Kansas, Y-shaped silhouettes amid the swirling snow.
Despite the weather, dozens of technicians are working to get the 10-mile-long Smoky Hills Wind Farm ready to begin producing electricity.
Jason Martinson, who is supervising the 56-turbine operation for Enel North America Inc., said that after almost a decade in the industry he's still amazed by how fast wind farms like Smoky Hills are going up across the country. But he also said workers such as those braving the blizzard-like conditions outside his office were becoming increasingly rare.
"Finding experienced techs is impossible with wind growing as fast as it is," Martinson said. "You get one year's worth of experience, and it's like dog years."
Considered a cheap source of renewable power, wind farms have taken off amid concerns over greenhouse gases produced by coal-fired electric plants and the increasing cost of natural gas and other petroleum products. Some states have encouraged their development by requiring that a certain portion of their future energy be created through renewable resources.
Last year, wind farms installed almost 3,200 turbines, boosting the nation's wind energy capacity by 45% and cranking out an additional 5,200 megawatts, or enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes for a year. The industry, which now accounts for a little more than 1% of the U.S. electric supply, expects to repeat that surge in 2008.
Critics of wind power have called the mammoth turbines eyesores and environmentalists have fought against them, warning that the giant rotors could pose a hazard to migratory birds and other wildlife.
But wind power officials see a much larger obstacle coming from its workforce, a highly specialized group of technicians that combines working knowledge of mechanics, hydraulics, computers and meteorology with the willingness to climb 200 feet in the air in all kinds of weather.
That workforce isn't keeping up with the future demand, partly because the industry is so new that the oldest independent training programs are less than 5 years old.
The American Wind Energy Assn., a Washington-based trade group, estimates the industry employs about 20,000 people, not including those making turbines or other equipment.
