Proponents See CA Wind Benefits

Increased wind development in California and other states is poised to create new opportunity for Golden State manufacturers to supply components, tools, and services to the wind industry, according to a top wind energy executive. The opportunities are being created by California’s 33 percent renewable energy standard, according to V. John White, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies executive director. “Creating markets leads to supply chain investments,” he said, noting that with the higher renewable energy standard that state is “crossing over a divide from a fossil-based system to a renewable energy system.” One-third of the 5,600 MW of wind power under construction is located along the Pacific Coast, said Denise Bode, American Wind Energy Association chief executive officer. She said the wind generation boom is propelled largely by California’s thirst for renewable energy under its 33 percent renewable standard. In California, a number of companies that produce steel, fiberglass, tools, and instruments are finding a niche in the wind field. AWEA, which tracks activity in the industry, estimates California has 4,000 to 5,000 jobs attributable to wind power. Manufacturers are finding that the growing wind power industry is creating new market niches for their products. Bode noted that when states first started adopting renewable energy standards early in the last decade U.S. companies produced about 20 percent of the components needed by the wind power industry. Today they make 55 percent of the components, she said Typical of companies finding new opportunities in wind energy is Sacramento-based Magnum Towers. The company found a niche in building and installing towers used for mounting anemometers, which wind developers use to study wind patterns for a year or two before deciding whether to develop their projects. Ameron in Rancho Cucamonga makes the tall towers on which wind turbines are mounted. The wind tower product grew out of the company’s expertise in making steel pipes for the water, chemical, and energy industry. Ameron just finished furnishing 25 of its 220 foot tall, 9 foot diameter, 164 ton towers for a 50 MW wind farm in San Diego County. White also notes that wind and solar projects in the Southern California desert area are breathing life into the moribund construction industry, where many workers have been sidelined by the housing crisis. Despite such shoots of green, economists point out that wind energy and other forms of renewable power still play a small role in a California economy that has a total of 14 million jobs and are likely to remain a minor factor for years to come. “It is in a very infant stage,” said Esmael Adibi, Chapman University economics professor. “In the long run it will become one of the fastest growing areas.” Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation chief economist Nancy Sidhu said the jury is still out on whether renewable energy and other “green” technologies are poised to become driving forces in the larger economy. She noted her organization is in the preliminary stages of studying the impact of green technology and jobs on the economy right now.

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Proponents See CA Wind Benefits

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