Secretary Gassman: Wisconsin to Create Jobs, Harness Power with Wind Turbines under Governor Doyle’s Clean Energy Jobs Plan

At Gateway Tech, State Labor Secretary highlights new wind turbine training course

Roberta Gassman

Kenosha, WI – Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman said today Governor Doyle’s Clean Energy Jobs Act will help create thousands of employment opportunities, including jobs building and maintaining wind turbines to generate power and gain energy independence.

“Under Governor Doyle’s Clean Energy Jobs Act, we can power economic growth with clean energy generated by wind turbines,” Secretary Gassman said. “Building and maintaining them will mean new, family-supporting jobs. Governor Doyle’s Clean Energy Jobs Act is a winner for working families, our businesses, and environment.”

Governor Doyle’s Clean Energy Jobs Act implements recommendations of his Global Warming Task Force to address climate change and grow the state’s green economy. The comprehensive package would:

- Require use of renewable energy sources for 20 percent of Wisconsin’s needs by 2020 and 25 percent by 2025. This will ensure more energy dollars remain in the state. Wisconsin currently spends $16 billion per year on imported energy to heat homes and fuel cars and trucks.

- Increase energy efficiency and conservation efforts with graduated statewide electricity savings goals, leading to a 2 percent reduction in energy use by 2015 and annual reductions thereafter.

- Create 15,000 jobs by 2025, including more than 1,800 in the first year, many of them construction jobs, according to new industry-recognized research. Economists and policy analysts estimate the package will create 800 to 1,800 new construction jobs per year through 2025 and more than 2,000 manufacturing jobs once the energy act provisions are fully implemented.

Secretary Gassman highlighted the clean energy package while visiting Gateway Technical College’s Horizon Center for Transportation Technology. In partnership with Snap-on Tools, Gateway developed a training course to provide the wind industry with a skilled workforce. Gateway’s 16-hour torque certification course is being replicated at Lakeshore Technical College in Wisconsin and a number of technical colleges across the country.

According to RENEW Wisconsin, more than 306 wind turbines have been built in Wisconsin in the last decade and 22 wind farms have been proposed. The Public Service Commission recently approved the Glacier Hills wind farm in Columbia County. As planned, the project would include 90 turbines producing 400 million kilowatt hours of clean energy, making it the state’s largest wind farm.

To view the economic assessment of the clean Energy Jobs Act, visit:
http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=18757

Posted @ 4:45 p.m.