Energy Shift Propels Jobs
An explosion of new wind farms is happening throughout the United States and particularly in the Pacific Northwest with the region’s existing power system anticipating the addition of up to 6,000 megawatts of wind energy by 2024 or sooner.
Carried on those winds is an expected boost in jobs — up to 15,000 in Oregon and Washington during the construction of new wind farms, according to a U.S. Department of Energy report released this fall.
The activity prompted the Atkinson Graduate School of Management’s Lisbeth Claus, associate professor of Global Human Resources, to spend a half day in the library researching the topic of wind power so she could better advise prospective MBA students wanting to enter the industry. “Those construction and other workers are going to need managers,” she said.
The Pacific Northwest, long dependent upon hydropower, is not alone in its embrace of wind power. The U.S. Energy Department’s study showed that the United States is the fastest-growing market in the world for wind power with companies such as General Electric, Goldman Sachs, John Deere, Siemens, British Petroleum and countless others — both domestic and foreign — scrambling to get a market share of an industry that could push past $500 billion within the next 20 years.
The Bonneville Power Administration, Portland General Electric and Seattle’s Puget Energy are among the regional energy providers who also are investing in wind power. And the Oregon communities of Portland and Astoria are looking at having wind power and other renewable energy provide all of their municipal energy needs.
In October, Babcock & Brown and BP Alternative Energy dedicated a 300-megawatt wind farm in Colorado. When fully online, the farm’s 274 wind turbines are expected to generate enough carbon-free electricity to power 90,000 average American homes annually.
“Wind power is one of America’s most abundant natural resources and we believe that wind energy development is a pivotal component to the nation’s drive to increase the use of alternative energy and reduce carbon emissions,” said Bob Malone, chairman and president of BP America, in a press release. BP Alternative Energy is working on several wind-related projects, including a proposed 90-megawatt wind farm near Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The study found U.S. wind power capacity jumped 27 percent in 2006, the largest incremental jump on record and the highest incremental capacity in the world. “The wind power industry has entered an era of substantial growth, both globally and in the United States,” said Ryan Wiser, co-author of the report. “The market is just exploding.”
Europe remains far ahead in total electricity generated from wind. Germany ranks first in the world with 20,652 megawatts of cumulative wind power in 2006, followed by Spain with 11,614 megawatts, according to the report. The United States ranked third with 11,575 megawatts with Texas, Washington and California leading the nation in new annual wind power capacity. Washington has 818 megawatts of wind capacity and Oregon has 497 megawatts capacity, according to the report. The growth can really be seen when compared to 1999 when Washington had zero megawatts power capacity from wind and Oregon only 25 megawatts.
Among the biggest incentives driving the industry is the number of new state laws requiring the development of renewable energy. At least 25 states have such laws, including Oregon’s recently passed standard that requires 25 percent of Oregon’s electric load come from new renewable energy by 2025. Washington requires 15 percent come from new renewable sources by 2020. The American Wind Energy Association, an industry group, has set a goal of having 20 percent of U.S. electrical power supply come from wind power. Under that scenario, about 80,000 ongoing jobs would be created by 2030. Currently, only about 0.8 percent of the U.S. power comes from wind, according to the trade group.
Realizing these and other goals comes with several challenges. Wind turbine manufacturers are scrambling to ramp up their capacity and also have been hit with high steel prices, a perfect storm that has created delays up to 18 months for delivery of turbines. And the creation of new wind energy will require improvements to the transmission system, which gets the power to customers. The BPA and other regional stakeholders have announced they are looking into making such improvements.
The Pacific Northwest, with a reputation for rainy days, is investing in other renewable energy sources including solar power, wave generation power and even making power out of algae. In June, when Oregon’s Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed into law his state’s new renewable energy standards he said it was the most significant environmental legislation enacted in 30 years.
“It will also stimulate billions of dollars in investment – creating hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in both urban and rural Oregon,” he said in a statement. “We are not only setting the state on a responsible path toward 25 percent renewable energy by 2025, but we are protecting our quality of life, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, stimulating our economy— and protecting ratepayers with more stable and predictable utility rates.”