United Wind Offers $200M to Fund Distributed Wind

Joanna Schroeder

United Wind‘s WindLease program has been infused with $200 million to fund distributed wind power projects across the U.S. In partnership with Forum Equity Partners, the financing will expand the WindLease program that enables residential and commercial property owners to lease distributed-scale wind turbines. According to United Wind, the program allows customers to tap wind energy through a fixed-rate, 20-year …

Electricity, Wind

Vaisala Partners to Assess Growth of Wind Energy

Joanna Schroeder

Vaisala is partnering with several groups to assess the potential of growth for wind energy. Southeastern Wind Coalition (SWEC) members Southern Company and Santee Cooper will be working with Vaisala on a wind feasibility study to assist the utilities in identifying the potential for utility-scale wind development. Currently, the region has very little wind energy production. The southwest has a …

Clean Energy, Electricity, Wind

American Wind Power Blows Beyond 70 GW

Joanna Schroeder

American wind power has blown beyond the 70 gigawatt (GW) mark. There is now enough power generated from wind to supply more than 19 million average American homes. This milestone was achieved in November leading into a historic climate agreement by global leaders to reduce carbon emission. This, along with the Clean Power Plan will continue to drive demand for …

Clean Energy, Clean Power Plan, Electricity, Wind

New Report, Some Hits…Some Misses for Renewables

Joanna Schroeder

A new report, “Some Hits, Some Misses…All-in-All…To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt,” looks at the accuracy of the forecasts for renewable electricity made by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its monthly “Short-Term Energy Outlook” (STEO) reports. Published by the SUN DAY Campaign, the report finds 2015 forecasts have generally followed the actual pattern of ups-and-downs in …

biomass, Electricity, Geothermal, Hydro, Renewable Energy, Solar, Wind

Wind Industry Applauds PTC, ITC Extension

Joanna Schroeder

U.S. Congress has voted to extend the wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC). On Friday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the 2016 spending package and that afternoon, the U.S. Senate followed suit.  As a result, the PTC and alternative ITC, that also includes solar and geothermal energy, will now be extended …

Clean Energy, Electricity, politics, Wind

Report: Renewables Fastest Growing US Power Source

Joanna Schroeder

According to GlobalData, non-hydro renewable energy will be the fastest growing power source in the U.S. through 2025. Installed capacity is expected to increase from 121.9 gigawatts (GW) in 2015 to 216 GW in 2025. “US Power Market Outlook to 2025, Update 2015 – Market Trends, Regulations, and Competitive Landscape,” finds the strong rate of growth suggests that the current …

biomass, Electricity, Renewable Energy, Research, Solar, Wind

Congress Votes to Extend ITC for Wind, Solar

Joanna Schroeder

The renewable electricity industry got an early holiday present this week as Congress included a five-year extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for renewable energy projects that provides a 30 percent federal tax credit for commercial installations of solar PV systems and new wind energy projects in the tax extenders package. The ITC was set to expire at the …

Clean Energy, Electricity, Legislation, Renewable Energy, Solar, Wind

Tax Extenders Package Includes Renewables

Cindy Zimmerman

The broad spending and tax legislation compromise unveiled by House Republicans Tuesday night includes federal tax incentive extensions for renewable energy, including biodiesel, wind and solar. The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) commended congressional leaders for reinstating the expired biodiesel tax incentive in the tax and spending proposal released late Tuesday but continued pressing to reform the incentive as a domestic …

BIO, Biodiesel, Energy, Government, NBB, Solar, Wind

General Motors Texas Plant to be Wind Powered

Joanna Schroeder

Wind will be soon be powering General Motors’ (GM) Arlington Assembly plant (Texas). Enough renewable energy will be produced to build nearly 125,000 trucks a year. The 115 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy will be enough to manufacture more than half of the plant’s annual vehicle output – the plant produces more than 1,200 vehicles per day. The wind …

automotive, Clean Energy, Electricity, Wind