Last week, Randall Swisher, former executivedirector of the American Wind Energy Association, spoke at the Green EnergySummit in Milwaukeeabout the economic advantages of renewable energy. Prior to his visit, Swisherexplained to the Shepherd why Wisconsin should embracehomegrown renewable sources of energy like wind power.
Shepherd:Texas is theleading wind producer in the country, the result of a fairly aggressive,deliberate strategy by that state’s policy-makers. Are there any lessons thatcan be learned from Texas’experience?
Swisher:Partly, that the public supports going in this direction. The second lessonthat we learned is that, when you put a lot of wind [power] on the system, it’sa lot more cost-competitive than people realize. The technology works and it’snot as difficult to integrate it into the electric utility system as a lot ofpeople seem to believe. Because the wind doesn’t blow all the time, peoplesometimes think this could never amount to much or it’s going to be verydifficult for public utilities to utilize it. You know, none of that is true.
Also, Texashas done a good job in terms of understanding that if you want to access thewind resource, you’ve got to ensure that you can deliver the power to wherepeople need it. And that means that transmission is important to the future ofwind in this country, and Texasis really leading the way with that. They’re spending like $5 billion buildingtransmission lines over the next few years to access wind resources in west Texas. And the thingthat’s particularly amazing about it is that the benefits to consumers ofgetting those lines built and getting the extra wind in the system would savecustomers about $2.5 billion a year. So they’ll pay for the line in about twoyears.
Shepherd:What’s your take on the impact of the Clean Energy Jobs Act on energy costs andjobs in Wisconsin?
Swisher:I’ve looked at some of the analyses and it seems like almost every analysis thathas been doneother than the analysis that was commissioned by the majorindustrial customers [Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce(WMC)]demonstrates that in fact [the bill] won’t have a severe impact on theeconomy and will be a net source of jobs. So you begin to wonder about theassumptions that were at the heart of the study that the major industry groupscommissioned.
But [the WMC study] clearly doesn’t square with thefacts as I understand them about the relative cost-competitiveness of wind andother renewables to meet the needs of the state over time. This is somethingthat we found time and again. We did this on a national basis in cooperationwith the U.S. Department of Energy. They did an analysis of what it would costand whether it is feasible for wind to provide 20% of the nation’s electricitywithin a 2030 time frame. It showed that not only was it cost-competitive withother generation sources like gas or coal and nuclear, but because of the fuelcost savings, it was a net economic benefit. I think what we found on anational basis is going to be true in a state like Wisconsin as well.
Shepherd:What sorts of jobs would be developed in the wind sector?
Swisher:Well, from a wind perspective there are really three major types of jobs. Oneis construction, because you have to build the projects. One isoperationspeople to manage a growing number of new renewable energy powerplants. And a third is manufacturing, and this is probably the thing that we’remost excited about. Because the U.S.is now the world’s largest market for wind power, you have virtually everymanufacturer in the world wanting to participate in that market. Because thisequipment is so large, it doesn’t make economic sense to manufacture itoverseas and try to import a wind turbine blade or tower from Europe or Asia. I know Iowahas been a real leader, sort of got out front. They have six or seven factoriesthat have now been established. I know Wisconsinhas been very aggressive in recent years in establishing an economicdevelopment strategy to really capitalize on this movement toward the newenergy economy.
I’ve talked to many, many companies. One of thethings I did in 2008 was fly over to Europe and try to recruit additionalcompanies to come to the U.S. and participate in this growing market because ifwe’re going to accomplish the objectives that we havesuch as providing 20% ofthe nation’s electricity [with wind power]we’re going to have to grow the sizeof the wind market about 10 times. And that’s going to require a lot ofturbines and a lot of other important parts. There are about 8,000 componentsin a typical utility-scale wind turbine. So that’s a lot of manufacturingopportunity.
Shepherd:Some manufacturers in other sectorsfor example, the paper industryareconcerned about the costs of using more locally produced renewable energy. Arethese concerns real?
Swisher:Well, the only reason the costs would go up would be if the cost of electricitywere to increase dramatically because of the movement toward renewables. Andthe analysis that the Public Service Commission and other entities have donesay that there’s no basis for that expressed fear. The fact is, moving to 25%renewable would not have a detrimental impact on Wisconsin’s manufacturers.
Shepherd:Southeastern Wisconsin has a newly expandedcoal-fired power plant that cost more than $2 billion. Why should the state nowembrace renewables if we made such a heavy investment in coal?
Swisher:One of the things that’s really good about renewable energy from an economicstandpoint is they are modular in nature and so you don't have to have athousand megawatts of wind in one swoop, one major construction project, oneenormous capital cost. You can add them in increments over time that moreclosely match the growth and demand for electricity. One of the problems with avery large power plant is not just the cost, but absorbing all of that newelectric generating capacity on the system is just hard to have to track thegrowth and demand over time.
Shepherd:If you could speak to our state legislators about renewable energy, what wouldyou tell them?
Swisher:I would say seize the opportunity that the new energy economy presents for thestate. There’s no question that this sector will continue growing dramaticallyfor decades. That means lots of manufacturing jobs that really have a naturalhome in Wisconsin,given your history as a manufacturing state. So it’s a perfect kind oftransition for a lot of those jobs that have been lost.
