ALMOST 1,100 JOBS FROM THE AVERAGE WIND PROJECT

Average U.S. Wind Farm Creates 1,079 Jobs, Report Finds

Ehren Goossens, September 11, 2012 (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

“…A 250-megawatt project generates 522 construction jobs, 432 positions in manufacturing, 80 for planning and development, 18 sales slots and 27 for operations, [according to a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council]…

“If Congress fails to extend the production tax credit, a federal incentive that’s scheduled to expire Dec. 31, that job creation will be threatened…The wind industry currently employs about 75,000 U.S. workers…”

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“…New wind-farm development has slowed in the U.S. ahead of the expiration date…Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS), the world’s biggest maker of wind turbines, expects shipments to decline next year and said Aug. 22 it’s cutting 1,400 jobs worldwide. That’s in addition to the 2,335 positions it eliminated in January. The company is considering firing 1,600 U.S. workers, a decision it says hinges largely on whether the PTC is extended.

“President Barack Obama supports extending the incentive, which gives producers a tax credit of 2.2 cents a kilowatt-hour. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, opposes it.”

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