a repost

President Obama met with Cuban President Raul Castro in Panama City  — marking the first full meeting between the leaders of the two countries since we announced a new diplomatic path with Cuba.

The two presidents discussed our shared histories, significant policy changes, and the positive response in both countries to this thaw in relations. “This is obviously a historic meeting,” said President Obama — who was in Central America for the seventh Summit of the Americas, a tradition that brings together the leaders of North and South America to discuss issues that impact the region.

Watch the President’s remarks at the Summit and learn more about his trip.

Weekly Address: Tuition-Free Community College

In this week’s address, the Vice President laid out his and the President’s plan to make two years of community college free for responsible students. A better-educated citizenry is necessary to ensure that the United States continues to out-compete the rest of the world. Making two years of community college free is good for workers, good for companies, and good for our economy.

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Why Conversion Therapy Hurts All of Us

More than 120,000 people signed a petition calling for a ban on the dangerous and unacceptable practice of conversion therapy — and on Wednesday, we responded. The overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that conversion therapy is neither medically or ethically appropriate and can cause substantial harm. That’s why the Obama administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors.

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West Wing Week: “A Good Deal”

Last week, the President made an important announcement about preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, traveled west to champion high-tech jobs in Louisville and clean energy jobs in Salt Lake City, had some fun at the 137th-annual White House Easter Egg Roll, and flew to Jamaica for a meeting with leaders of Caribbean nations.

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by Aaron Severn
Director, Grassroots and Federal Legislative Affairs
American Wind Energy Association

I wanted to loop you in on the latest updates on American wind power.  The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) recently released its Annual Market Report for 2013, as well as its First Quarter 2014 Market Report.

So what’s new?

The U.S. wind industry did not install much wind power capacity in 2013, reflecting the impact of the policy uncertainty that the wind industry faced throughout 2012. 

The numbers were small:

• 1,087 megawatts (MW) installed in 2013, compared to 13,131 in 2012 – a 92% drop in new capacity
• Corresponding drop in investment, $2 billion into the US economy in 2013,  compared to $25 billion in 2012
• Loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs – ending the year with 50,500 total wind industry jobs, as compared to 80,700 jobs at the end of 2012

In total, though, wind power is making impressive contributions to the U.S. electricity supply:

• Wind now provides over 4% of our electricity nationally
• Iowa and South Dakota get over 25% of their electricity from wind power; nine states get more than 10% and six states get more than 15% of their electricity from wind power

As you may recall, Congress allowed the PTC to expire at the end of 2012.  Then, our legislators extended the credit in early January 2013, allowing projects that started construction by the end of 2013 to qualify for the credit (rather than requiring that they be operational by the end of 2013, as  required in the past).  The uncertainty throughout 2012 caused wind project development to come to a halt, and manufacturing orders to cease, resulting in little development and significant job loss as noted above.

How’s this year looking so far?

The PTC extension in 2013 allowed developers to put plans back in motion.  As a result, 2014 is off to a great start:

• Over 13,000 MW of wind power under construction – more than any other time in history – and including over 95 projects across 21 states
• 214 MW of wind power installed so far — more than in the first three quarters of 2013
• Utility companies and corporate purchasers continue to announce agreements to purchase wind power – they announced 8,000 MW of power purchase agreements in 2013, and about another 1,000 MW so far this year  

Is there a catch?

Yes – federal policy for the wind energy industry is still uncertain.  The PTC expired again, at the end of 2013.  Without an extension, the wind industry is looking at the prospect of near-term downturns in project development, and job layoffs as well.

The Senate Finance Committee has acted to extend the PTC, and a credit that developers can choose instead of the PTC, the investment tax credit (ITC).  They extended these provisions as part of the EXPIRE Act in early April.  The bill moves to the Senate floor for consideration next, and we will keep you updated on that front.  It will be important to weigh in with your Senators about the importance of extending the PTC through the EXPIRE Act.

Thanks, as always, for your support.  I encourage you to check out these resources if you’re interested in more information:

• AWEA State Fact Sheets
• AWEA U.S. Wind Industry First Quarter 2014 Market Report
• AWEA U.S. Annual Market Report, Year Ending 2013

Sincerely,
Aaron

Aaron Severn
Director, Grassroots and Federal Legislative Affairs
American Wind Energy Association