American Wind Energy Assn

Installed U.S. wind energy capacity grew nearly 45% last year to 16,800 megawatts, or enough to serve 4.5 million homes, an industry group said. Texas remained the top state in total wind power capacity and new wind power capacity, the annual report from the American Wind Energy Assn. said.

Supporters of a bipartisan effort to protect the American wind energy industry say that 37,000 U.S. jobs will be at risk this year if Congress fails to extend the production tax credits that have been vital to wind power development. The call for Congress to pass HR 3307, the American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act, was made during a teleconference hosted by three members of Congress, the American Wind Energy Assn. and TPI Composites, a Newton, Iowa-based wind blade manufacturer.

PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric utility agreed to buy power from a wind farm in Oregon being built by a unit of EDP Renovaveis, helping it to meet state energy and climate goals. The Rattlesnake Road wind farm will give the San Francisco utility 240 gigawatt-hours of power a year, EDP's Horizon Wind Energy unit said. That's enough for about 30,000 average homes, based on American Wind Energy Assn. data. Terms of the 15-year contract weren't disclosed.

On Thursday, the Annual Market Report from the American Wind Energy Assn. (AWEA) will show that California was first in the nation in new wind power installations in 2011 with more than $2 billion in investments. The AWEA report will highlight data on industry jobs, manufacturing, and installed wind capacity across the U.S. Wind is the nation's fastest growing source of non-hydroelectric renewable power generation, according to the U.S. Energy Department. In 2011, California added more wind power than any state, according to the advocacy group Environment California, and the wind industry in California now regularly employs between 4,000 and 5,000 workers.

On Thursday, the Annual Market Report from the American Wind Energy Assn. (AWEA) will show that California was first in the nation in new wind power installations in 2011 with more than $2 billion in investments. The AWEA report will highlight data on industry jobs, manufacturing, and installed wind capacity across the U.S. Wind is the nation's fastest growing source of non-hydroelectric renewable power generation, according to the U.S. Energy Department. In 2011, California added more wind power than any state, according to the advocacy group Environment California, and the wind industry in California now regularly employs between 4,000 and 5,000 workers.

The potential for profit is blowing in the wind, and Green Wave Energy Corp. plans to catch it. Among its secret weapons: an 11-foot-tall, blazingly white, nearly indestructible prototype generator that produces as much as 11 kilowatts of electricity using gusts of wind. The fiberglass contraption could make homespun, do-it-yourself wind power a reality, Chief Executive Mark Holmes said. A model version recently stood amid yachts in a Newport Beach shipyard before being disassembled for updates, but Holmes envisions it moving soon into the backyards and rooftops of homes and businesses.

The Times series on the high costs of the oil glut provides a valuable public service. It could be instrumental in launching a renewed debate on the need for a consistent national energy policy. In Woutat's thorough and well-written journey through the arcane world of oil cartels and conflicting national policies he brought the consequences of complacency to life: a possible repeat of the '70s. Woutat correctly noted that many of the successes resulting from the '70s scramble for alternatives and greater energy efficiency have been endangered by cheap oil. The state's wind industry is but one of many examples.

In an effort to tap one of the high desert's most abundant resources, Palmdale is allowing large shopping centers and business parks to install small wind turbines in their parking lots to save on electricity costs. Civic leaders in the Antelope Valley have taken a variety of steps in recent years to harness and adapt to the region's vast supplies of sun and wind. In Lancaster, hundreds of acres of desert landscape will be used for a huge bed of solar-thermal panels. Both Palmdale and Lancaster have taken steps to ban new lawns to help conserve water.

The refusal by most Republicans to have anything to do with clean energy or the fight against global warming means the job is being left almost entirely to Democrats, who have a strong grasp of environmental science but often a dim understanding of economics. That can undermine even the most well meaning of environmental initiatives, as a group of Senate Democrats seems determined to do with green-energy projects funded by stimulus dollars. Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.

Ayear ago the Oracle of Oil, T. Boone Pickens, reinvented himself as the Wizard of Wind, launching a $58-million ad campaign to boost alternative energy and vowing to spend $10 billion to build the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle. It was a startling move from a staunch conservative who had made a fortune in the Texas oil fields, raising hopes that both ends of the political spectrum were coming around to the same point of view about weaning the country from its reliance on oil.

The refusal by most Republicans to have anything to do with clean energy or the fight against global warming means the job is being left almost entirely to Democrats, who have a strong grasp of environmental science but often a dim understanding of economics. That can undermine even the most well meaning of environmental initiatives, as a group of Senate Democrats seems determined to do with green-energy projects funded by stimulus dollars. Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.

Not long ago, people who wanted to generate their own green energy at home had to content themselves with rooftop solar panels. But new technologies -- and hefty government subsidies -- are now allowing homeowners to tap the wind, the Earth and other renewable sources in their own backyards. Call it the green evolution. The cost of heating and cooling with fossil fuels has nowhere to go but up, thanks to rising global demand and increased regulation of carbon emissions.

The potential for profit is blowing in the wind, and Green Wave Energy Corp. plans to catch it. Among its secret weapons: an 11-foot-tall, blazingly white, nearly indestructible prototype generator that produces as much as 11 kilowatts of electricity using gusts of wind. The fiberglass contraption could make homespun, do-it-yourself wind power a reality, Chief Executive Mark Holmes said. A model version recently stood amid yachts in a Newport Beach shipyard before being disassembled for updates, but Holmes envisions it moving soon into the backyards and rooftops of homes and businesses.

In an effort to tap one of the high desert's most abundant resources, Palmdale is allowing large shopping centers and business parks to install small wind turbines in their parking lots to save on electricity costs. Civic leaders in the Antelope Valley have taken a variety of steps in recent years to harness and adapt to the region's vast supplies of sun and wind. In Lancaster, hundreds of acres of desert landscape will be used for a huge bed of solar-thermal panels. Both Palmdale and Lancaster have taken steps to ban new lawns to help conserve water.

Ayear ago the Oracle of Oil, T. Boone Pickens, reinvented himself as the Wizard of Wind, launching a $58-million ad campaign to boost alternative energy and vowing to spend $10 billion to build the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle. It was a startling move from a staunch conservative who had made a fortune in the Texas oil fields, raising hopes that both ends of the political spectrum were coming around to the same point of view about weaning the country from its reliance on oil.

PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric utility agreed to buy power from a wind farm in Oregon being built by a unit of EDP Renovaveis, helping it to meet state energy and climate goals. The Rattlesnake Road wind farm will give the San Francisco utility 240 gigawatt-hours of power a year, EDP's Horizon Wind Energy unit said. That's enough for about 30,000 average homes, based on American Wind Energy Assn. data. Terms of the 15-year contract weren't disclosed.

Supporters of a bipartisan effort to protect the American wind energy industry say that 37,000 U.S. jobs will be at risk this year if Congress fails to extend the production tax credits that have been vital to wind power development. The call for Congress to pass HR 3307, the American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act, was made during a teleconference hosted by three members of Congress, the American Wind Energy Assn. and TPI Composites, a Newton, Iowa-based wind blade manufacturer.

Not long ago, people who wanted to generate their own green energy at home had to content themselves with rooftop solar panels. But new technologies -- and hefty government subsidies -- are now allowing homeowners to tap the wind, the Earth and other renewable sources in their own backyards. Call it the green evolution. The cost of heating and cooling with fossil fuels has nowhere to go but up, thanks to rising global demand and increased regulation of carbon emissions.

Installed U.S. wind energy capacity grew nearly 45% last year to 16,800 megawatts, or enough to serve 4.5 million homes, an industry group said. Texas remained the top state in total wind power capacity and new wind power capacity, the annual report from the American Wind Energy Assn. said.