California Watch: Wind Power

Wind energy milestone: California now gets about 5 percent of its electricity from wind power
Mercury News: 1.31.201 by Dana Hull

California now gets about 5 percent of its electricity from wind power, according to data released Tuesday by the California Wind Energy Association.

The majority of California's electricity -- 42 percent -- comes from natural gas, followed by nuclear power and hydropower. According to 2010 figures from the California Energy Commission, wind made up 4.7 percent of the state's electricity mix and solar was 0.3 percent.

But in 2011, wind projects that generate 921 megawatts -- enough electricity for more than 400,000 homes -- were installed across the state, which the wind association says should put it above the long-sought-after 5 percent threshold. California has set an ambitious goal of getting 33 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020, and utilities are increasingly signing contracts for renewable projects.

"2011 was a banner year for wind generation in California," said Nancy Rader, executive director of CalWEA, based in Berkeley. "Wind has come a long way and is helping to drive California closer to reaching its goal of 33 percent renewable energy."

In California, the vast majority of wind turbines are clustered in three regions: the Altamont Pass between Livermore and Tracy, Tehachapi near Bakersfield and the San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs. While solar panels are visible on homes across the state, massive wind farms tucked away in windy mountain passes that many Californians never see produce much more energy. READ MORE !

Industry Watch: Wind

Wind Energy Job Growth Isn’t Blowing Anyone Away
Despite record growth in generating capacity, the industry is creating few employment opportunities overall.
LA Times: February 2, 2010 by Jim Tankersley

Reporting from Washington - America's wind energy industry enjoyed a banner year in 2009, thanks largely to tax credits and other incentives packed into the $787-billion economic stimulus bill.

But even though a record 10,000 megawatts of new generating capacity came on line, few jobs were created overall and wind power manufacturing employment, in particular, fell -- a setback for President Obama's pledge to create millions of green jobs.

Obama has long pitched green jobs, especially in the energy, transportation and manufacturing fields, as a prescription for long-term, stable employment and a prosperous middle class.

But those jobs have been slow to materialize, especially skilled, good-paying, blue-collar jobs such as assembling wind turbines, retrofitting homes to use less energy and working on solar panels in the desert.

. . . . .

Industry analysts and energy company executives said job growth is also hampered by lingering uncertainties in federal energy policy. Those include questions about when or whether existing tax breaks will expire and whether the Senate will pass a climate bill that would make fossil fuels more expensive -- and renewable energy more competitive.

The federal stimulus bill spared the wind and solar industries steep job losses last year, executives said.

In the wind industry, the bill saved about 40,000 factory, installation and maintenance jobs, according to the American Wind Energy Assn. The industry had gained as many as 2,000 installation and maintenance jobs in producing the record megawatts of new capacity, but wind power manufacturing lost just as many jobs, the trade group said.

Clean-energy leaders and many outside analysts added that green companies won't begin hiring in large numbers until the federal government mandates renewable power consumption nationwide and dramatically upgrades the nation's electric grid. READ MORE !

California Watch: Wind

California Building Power Lines to a Renewable Future
Solve Climate Blog: December 21, 2009 by Matthew Berger

California regulators have approved a plan to carry the resources of a rural, wind-rich region of the state to the homes and businesses of Los Angeles and Southern California, bringing the state a step closer to meeting one of the world's most ambitious renewable energy goals.

The California Public Utilities Commission’s announcement Thursday means the main portion of a transmission line connecting the Tehachapi region of Kern County to consumers can go forward.

"This project will help bring renewable energy to the grid that would otherwise remain unavailable," PUC president Michael R. Peevey said. "Ensuring adequate transmission infrastructure is vital to helping the state reach its 20 percent renewable energy goal and will contribute significantly to meeting the 33 percent goal."

California’s renewable portfolio standard requires that 20 percent of the state’s electricity be from renewable sources by 2010 and 33 percent by 2020. In comparison, the European Union's RPS target is 20 percent by 2020.

The state established its RPS in 2002 with a goal of 20 percent renewable power by 2017. The state's Energy Commission and the PUC later urged upping those goals, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed, signing an executive order in September establishing the current 33 percent by 2020 target.

Projects like the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project, to be built by utility Southern California Edison, will also help the state reach its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, as a 2006 state bill mandates.

Currently, California emits 1.4 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases, which would approximately tie it with France for 14th most if it were a country; the state’s economy would be in the top 10. Regulations outlining how California will reach its emissions-reduction goals are to be released next year and adopted in 2011. READ MORE !