Posts Tagged ‘Miner County Wind Project’

Wind Energy Jobs outgrow Coal Jobs

December 1st, 2009

Thanks to a post on The Rural Blog, I stumbled across this old article from the Fortune Magazine blog touting an American Wind Energy study that claims more people are employed in wind energy than in coal mining.  My first reaction was “can this be true?”

With two wind energy companies located in tiny Howard, SD (pop. 1080), I recognize the importance of green job development to the future of Midwestern rural communities.  But I had no idea the wind industry now employs 85,000 workers compared to approximately 81,000 workers in the coal mining industry.

With that in mind, however, I’d like to caution people not to jump to the conclusion that there are more jobs in the wind energy industry than the coal industry.  The statistics speak only to coal mining.  Just as mechanization has led to the transfer of jobs from farming to the agro-industrial sector, the coal industry has also seen the movement of jobs from coal mining to industry related activities like the manufacturing of coal mining equipment.

What I like about the wind energy industry is that it makes business sense to locate the new jobs they create in rural communities close to wind resources.  Howard is a perfect example.

If you are interested in joining the conversation about job creation in wind energy, I’d encourage you to get to know the South Dakota Wind Energy Association.  Today, they are hosting their Annual Meeting in Pierre, SD. 

You can also become an “Advocate Member” of the association by visiting their website.  It’s easy and free. The wind energy industry is not going to save every rural community, but it can create a positive effect on many.

Photo Credit: Green for All - Flickr

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Winona invests in wind

September 21st, 2009

News comes to us from Minnesota announcing a partnership enabling Winona County to become “the first county in Minnesota to develop renewable energy to benefit taxpayers.” (see “County finalizes wind turbine project,” Winona Daily News)

This sounds very similar to what the City of Howard accomplished back in 2001 when it became the first municipality in the state to own and operate wind turbines. (The two other communities in Miner County–Carthage and Canova–followed suit in 2002.)

Although similar in many ways, the two projects appear to differ in their desired outcome.  Howard’s motivation revolved around assisting a start-up wind energy company and developing a stronger community brand. Winona’s goals, on the other hand, appear to be to provide a model for wind energy development and develop a revenue source for economic development efforts.  (According to the article, the Winona County Economic Development Authority could receive up to $1.12 million from the sale of electricity over the next 20 years.)

The ability of the wind project to deliver over a million dollars in revenue to the Winona Count EDA will only be proven by time.  But I think the community leaders should be congratulated for looking at the wind development as a source of revenue for economic development.

 

Why investments like this are important

It has been the experience of the Rural Learning Center that most rural communities know they need to invest in economic development, but few have or want to use tax dollars to invest in those efforts.  If not tax dollars, then what?

Admittedly Winona’s investment doesn’t come without risks, and questioning public investment in private sector business is a legitimate concern.  But there’s little doubt that the Winona model points the way to one option for funding community development activities.

It also raises the question:  What is your community doing to fund economic and community development for your community? 

Note: Thanks go to Dakota Rural Action for tweeting about this project. (and who says Tweeting is a waste of time?)  And thanks to Linda Grover, Director of the Winona County Economic Development Authority, for answer a few questions.

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Green jobs in Rural America

August 21st, 2009

Most of the talk about green job development has focused on urban areas, especially depressed, inner cities.  But yesterday the conversation turned towards Rural America, and what’s already been accomplished there.

The conversation was initiated by Repower America, who held a press conference in Howard, SD to show their support for The American Clean Energy and Security Act.  The organization believes the legislation could help bring 5,000 new jobs to South Dakota. 

Because it is home to two wind energy companies, Howard (pop. 1071) was the perfect community to showcase this potential.  Those two companies, Knight & Carver Wind Group and Energy Maintenance Service, offer good paying jobs that have helped diversify the town’s economy.

What’s exciting is that this is just the start. An article in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader quotes Sam Brown, Knight & Carver’s President saying:

South Dakota “has made it easy to come here,” Brown said. “We’re interested in staying - and expanding. This legislation helps us move in that direction.”

There are a lot of pros and cons to this proposed legislation, and I’ll let readers make up their own minds on it.  But I hope people keep in mind that green job development has already stimulated the economy of at least one rural community.  And that the future could be even greater. 

Photo: Gary Kanaby, Knight & Carver VP of Sales, speaks at the groundbreaking ceramony in Aug. 2006.

Note: Howard was an early pioneer in wind energy industry.  Back in 2001, they became the first community in South Dakota to own and operate their own wind turbines.

PS (8-24-09) –Based on a few a few conversations I’ve received since first publishing, some people may have taken this post as advocacy for The America Clean Energy and Security Act.  Admittedly, I don’t know enough about the legislation to take a strong stance for or against it.  What I do hope to see more support for is smart grid technology. It offers the opportunity for the innovation needed to bring clearner sources of energy into the mainstream.  To learn more, read here and here.

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Small Wind: The next community development opportunity?

October 28th, 2008

Small wind is a term used to define wind turbines of under 100 kilowatts.  As wind developers push the size of utility scale wind turbines to 1.5 megawatts and larger, many people are also turning to small wind as an option for homes and small businesses.  This is especially true in off-grid applications. 

Inspired by the economic and social conditions in Haiti, Shayne Frayne developed a “miniature” wind generator based on a revolutionary “turbine-less” design.  Although difficult for most of us to imagine, Frayne does a nice job of explaining his Windbelt technology in the video below:

 

Small Wind & Mental Models

In a post yesterday, Joe described how our “mental models” can blind us from recognizing new ideas and opportunities.  Frayne obviously overcame that problem in developing the vision for his wind generator.  

In a similar fashion, leaders in Miner County, South Dakota developed a vision for how wind energy could help transform their struggling economy.  Beginning in 2001, the community set out to accomplish that vision by:

With over 200 new green jobs created since 2001 in the county of 2,800, that vision is paying dividends.

So, why didn’t more communities recognize this opportunity?  Part of the answer can undoubtedly be attributed to the mental models created by cheap energy and decades of decline in rural communities. 

Today, many communities see the opportunity and are rushing to see if they can become a home to a wind turbine farm or a wind energy business.  With growing job and financial opportunities, it’s a great opportunity to pursue.  

At the same time, I hope those of us in rural communities pause long enough to examine the mental models that cause us to covet this kind of development.  Perhaps our rush to get into the wind energy game has blinded us to other opportunities like those of the WindBelt.  And we can’t afford to miss any opportunities just because we’re in too big of a hurry to pause and think. 

See the following for further information:

 

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