By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — It produces clean energy, creates jobs and gives rural communities much-needed infusions of capital investment, while increasing the tax base.

No wonder wind energy appears to be America’s new favorite renewable energy source, with developments growing rapidly outside traditional wind-generating states such as California and Texas. According to the American Wind Energy Assoc. (AWEA), it’s growing faster in Indiana than anywhere else.

“We looked at the statistics for 2008 and Indiana stood out as the fastest-growing state,” said Brad Lystra, AWEA outreach specialist, “and when you combine the numbers for 2008 and 2009, it’s obvious that Indiana is really establishing a foothold.

“By the end of the year, Indiana could be on par with South Dakota and Wyoming.”

In response to AWEA’s findings, Gov. Mitch Daniels decided to proclaim April 13-18 Indiana Wind Energy Week. “We welcome the news that Indiana is the fastest-growing state for wind power energy. We’ve made homegrown clean energy production a priority, and we are proud to become a leader in new wind energy installations,” he said in a statement.

Last year, Indiana’s wind-generating capacity went from zero megawatts to 130, thanks to the state’s first wind farm in Benton County. The groundbreaking last week of two more projects in Benton and White counties, in combination with the 400-megawatt Fowler Ridge Wind Farm going online April 15, are expected to bring Indiana’s installed capacity to 836 megawatts by the end of the year.

If all the wind farms currently in the planning stages in Indiana are built, the state could generate as much as 5,000 megawatts of electricity from wind in three or four years, said Brandon Seitz, director of the Indiana Office of Energy Development (IOED).
“Some of those projects may be premature, but I think in the next two or three years we’ll have 2,500 megawatts of capacity. That’s 10 percent of our peak load. That’s a very nice development,” Seitz said.

Whereas Indiana used to be a white dot on the map of wind energy developments in the U.S., wind energy companies are currently planning, constructing or operating projects in 15 counties, according to Eric Burch, director of policy and outreach with IOED. He explained the recent spike in planned projects with a 2005 IOED report that studied Indiana’s wind resources, and found many sites would be suitable for the industry’s new, 100-meter tall wind towers.
“Up until that point, it wasn’t believed Indiana had much wind,” Burch said. “But it turned out that once we got a little further off the ground we had much better wind resources.”

Dealing with a slew of wind companies seeking to establish operations in Indiana has been a new experience for landowners and local governments, and more counties are implementing new zoning regulations for proposed wind farms.

“We’ve learned tremendously from Benton County’s experience, they’ve been real trailblazers,” Burch said. “Benton County is now used as a model across the state.”

Aside from creating jobs during construction and operation, the wind industry could boost the state’s manufacturing base, which has been battered by the recession. Right now, most of the parts for the wind turbines are shipped in from overseas but in the future Indiana officials hope and believe companies will want to manufacture parts in-state.

According to AWEA, Indiana has about 1,000 companies that could manufacture wind components and some have already made the switch from producing components for the auto industry to making parts for wind turbines. Brevini, an Italian gearbox manufacturer, has announced it will open a facility in Muncie, investing $60 million and employing approximately 450 people at full capacity.

“Brevini coming into Muncie is just the tip of the iceberg,” Burch said. “The Indiana Economic Development Corporation is working very hard to provide information and resources to companies in Indiana that want to be part of the supply chain to the wind industry. The Indiana manufacturing base is ready and willing to help.”