Tax Credit in Doubt, Wind Power Industry Is Withering

Last month, Gamesa, a major maker of wind turbines, completed the first significant order of its latest innovation: a camper-size box that can capture the energy of slow winds, potentially opening up new parts of the country to wind power. But by the time the last of the devices, worth more than $1.25 million, was hitched to a rail car, Gamesa had all but shut down its factory here and furloughed 92 of the workers who made them. “We are all really sad,” said Miguel Orobiyi, 34, who worked as a mechanical assembler at the Gamesa plant for nearly five years. “I hope they call us back because they are really, really good jobs.” [ read more … ]

Siemens to Cut 615 U.S. Wind Energy Jobs as New Orders Dry Up

Siemens AG (SIE) will eliminate 615 jobs at U.S. factories producing windmills in response to declining orders, dealing a blow to Chief Executive Officer Peter Loescher’s push into environmentally friendly energy sources. “The industry is facing a significant drop in new orders, and this has an unfortunate consequence on employment in this segment of the power industry,” Munich-based Siemens said today in a message to employees that was obtained by Bloomberg. [ read more … ]

Wind Energy Leader Speaks Out About Tax Credit Extensions After Siemens Layoffs

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa said, “The only thing that I have been successful on is, we do have a tax bill, out of the Finance Committee, and I do have the extension to the wind energy tax credit in it.” But Senator Grassley does not expect the package, containing extensions to 50-60 other credits, to go before the House before Congress recesses. [ read more … ]

Wind-Sector Cuts Tied to Tax-Credit Clouds

New layoffs at Siemens AG’s DE +0.30% wind-power factories in the U.S. mark the latest retrenchment in the wind industry caused in part by the looming expiration of a federal tax credit.

Siemens, a global leader in wind-turbine manufacturing, said Tuesday it would eliminate more than 600 positions, or about 37% of its U.S. wind-turbine-manufacturing jobs. The cuts include 407 jobs at its Fort Madison, Iowa, blade factory and 146 at a factory in Hutchinson, Kan., that makes nacelles, or housing, for the turbines’ generators and gears. Additionally, Siemens said 330 temporary positions added to help with busy times earlier won’t be renewed. [ read more … ]

Obama to rule on Oregon wind-farm bid

President Obama will make the final call on whether a Chinese-owned company can build wind farms in the United States near a Navy installation in Oregon, a government lawyer told a federal judge yesterday. Joel McElvain, a lawyer for the Justice Department, made the comments to Judge Amy Berman Jackson at the U.S. District Court hearing on Ralls Corp.’s lawsuit to block the United States’ rejection of the wind farm project. [ read more … ]

FERC commissioner offers ‘middle ground’ option in wind credit debate

A Republican member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is floating a plan to quell debate surrounding the fate of the wind production tax credit slated to expire at the end of the year. Commissioner Philip Moeller said wind generators and other power plants could receive tax credits when demand for electricity soars, which would allow Congress to continue providing incentives for the industry while addressing critics’ claims that the credits are too broadly distributed. [ read more … ]