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Dayton Business Journal...
Report: Ohio
leads nation in wind power growth
by DBJ Staff
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wind energy is picking up across Ohio. The Buckeye State ranks as the
fastest-growing state in the country in terms of percentage increase in
wind power capacity, according to the AWEA U.S. Wind Industry Annual
Market Report Year Ending 2011. Ohio saw its capacity grow by 929
percent last year, ahead of Vermont (625 percent), Massachusetts (152
percent) and Michigan (130 percent).
Last year, U.S. investments in wind energy totaled $13 billion. Roughly
3,500 wind turbines were installed in 2011 across 96 wind projects. The
report by the American Wind Energy Association said
the energy supplied by wind power at the end of 2011 could sustain 12
million homes.
Southwest Ohio makes a sizeable contribution to the wind industry, with
13 local facilies making parts, the report said. This includes
companies such as Honeywell, Milacron and Dayton Superior. Ohio has 56
manufacturers making parts for the wind energy industry.
In terms of wind turbines, the leader in their manufacturing remains GE
Energy, a unit of General Electric, which has thousands of workers in
the Dayton region. GE Energy has roughly 30 percent of the market, the
report said.
Among the top owners of American wind capacity are several that operate
in the Dayton region. AES Corp., which acquired Dayton-based DPL
Inc. last year, ranked as the No. 10 owner of wind
capacity; and Duke Energy Corp., which supplies power to customers in
Butler and Warren counties, was No. 13. NextEra Energy Resources ranked
No. 1.
And Columbus-based American Electric Power, which supplies energy to
areas east of Dayton, ranks No. 5 in terms of investor-owned utilities
with wind capacity.
Overall, the report says the wind industry faces challenges, in terms
of loss of production tax credits and higher taxes looming at the end
of 2012, but it remains a growing part of the U.S. energy marketplace.
The industry is moving toward providing 20 percent of America’s
electricity – and 500,000 American jobs – by 2030.
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