LISLE, Ill. - At the end of last year, there were reports of layoffs in the wind power industry because of uncertainty over whether Congress would continue the wind power production tax credit that was expiring in December. But now that the credit has been extended for a year, wind power is picking up again, and Illinois is now the fourth-largest wind energy producer in the nation.

According to John Purcell, vice president of the energy division at Leeco Steel, his company has had to triple the size of its Lisle office in part because it's getting so many orders for steel plates for wind towers.

"Illinois is open for business for wind, and the industry is hiring and the wind industry stands to be busy again," Purcell declared.

The wind-energy industry now employs more than 75,000 workers in Illinois and 42 other states. Nearly 200 companies in Illinois are involved in the supply chain.

Environmentalists looking for moves away from what they call "dirty" energy, meaning fossil fuels, now are hoping that tax reform legislation coming up in Congress will include incentives for wind energy that don't expire every year - that is, just like the continuing incentives received by the oil, gas, and nuclear industries.

Purcell said wind technology is becoming more efficient.

"The towers are getting taller, which means you catch better wind and so you have those turbines are spinning stronger, better, longer, faster," he said.

Dave Hamilton, Director for Clean Energy with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, said clean wind energy is good for the environment and it's good for the economy. But, he said, the increased competition from wind is not going over well with the dirty-energy companies. Hamilton suspects that's why nuclear and oil interests lobbied against the production tax credit last year.

"You know, what really hurts them is the growing amount of wind, because the more it grows the lower the wholesale price of power," he declared. "Turbines may be more expensive or less expensive to build, but once those things are up the cost of the wind doesn't change."

Unlike fossil fuels, wind is free. An Exelon executive recently told BusinessWeek that the wind industry could create so much competition that some nuclear plants might have to be retired early. He called the wind industry "oversubsidized," but the Environmental Law Institute found that over a two-year period, fossil fuel companies received $50 billion in energy subsidies while the wind production tax credit cost just over $1 billion.

Hamilton points out that the wind production tax credit expires, while fossil fuel subsidies do not. He's hoping tax reformers will level the playing field for renewable energy industries such as wind.

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The Maine Department of Transportation is "going green," with plans to install solar arrays on three state-owned properties in Augusta.

The Transportation Department breaks ground this week on renewable-energy sites at the Augusta Airport and inside the Interstate 95 interchanges, at Exits 109 and 112. Once completed, the arrays will provide low-cost renewable energy to power both the State Capitol complex and East Campus.

Joyce Taylor, chief engineer for Maine DOT, said the agency is putting extra land to good use.

"The DOT, you know, we own a lot of property, but it's not like you can do affordable housing in it," she said. "We can't really put a lot of things in there, so that's a really good use of our land to A) try to get some money back for the taxpayers and B) have a greener footprint."

The solar projects will be owned and operated by Cenergy Power. Taylor said once online, the arrays will generate about 8.5 megawatts of solar energy and reduce the state's carbon emissions by 2,000 metric tons a year.

The projects align with Gov. Janet Mills' "Lead by Example" plan for state government, which calls for the state to use electricity from 100% renewable sources by 2024 and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from state operations by 45% by 2030. Taylor said she is optimistic that the transportation project be an example for other state agencies.

"I think there's some other state agencies that are definitely looking at it," she said. "It did take some time to be able to pull it together, so I think we're interested in seeing how this goes."

Each solar-array site will include pollinator-friendly vegetation management. Cenergy is beginning work at Exit 109 this week, with the other sites starting later this month.

Next week, North Dakota landowners will get a chance to hear updates on a proposed underground pipeline for transporting and sequestering carbon dioxide. The meeting comes as tension builds between landowners and the company behind the project.

Dakota Resource Council is hosting next Tuesday's meeting, and said it wants affected property owners to learn about the latest efforts by Summit Carbon Solutions to secure land for its multistate pipeline.

The company recently submitted paperwork in North Dakota to pursue eminent domain if it cannot obtain enough voluntary easements.

Eliot Huggins, field organizer for the Council, said Summit is placing unnecessary pressure on those not agreeing to contracts.

"Harassing, threats of eminent domain, things like that," Huggins outlined. "There's folks at the beginning who might have been open to this who are now pretty opposed, and that's largely just due to their interactions with the company."

Summit insists "misinformation" is being used by opponents and said it will continue to work with local leaders and landowners to address concerns. Tuesday's meeting will be held in Bismarck at the Veterans Memorial Library and begins at 6 p.m. For those who cannot be there in person, they can request a Zoom link from the group to participate online.

The Council also urged those concerned to sign up for the grassroots North Dakota Easement Team, which is designed to fight Summit's efforts collectively, including potential legal options, while informing people of their rights.

Brian Jorde, managing partner of Domina Law Group, which is part of the legal team, said the group approach can be more effective than a person taking action on their own.

"You can be as noisy as you want on your own and good luck to you," Jorde noted. "But unless you're part of a larger group, you can't hope to even make a dent or resist these billion-dollar-backed entities."

Similar groups have been formed in other Midwestern states in the proposed project's footprint. Summit wants to capture carbon dioxide from ethanol plants and move it through multiple states before storing it underground in North Dakota. The plan is touted as a solution in reducing harmful emissions.

Groups such as the Resource Council said while they are not opposed to the concept of carbon sequestration, they argued a large-scale approach presents too many challenges.

By 2030, Minnesota wants 20% of all light-duty vehicles on its roads to be electric. But a lot of charging stations are needed to help achieve that goal, and clean-energy advocates say there's positive movement in that direction.

Supporters of electric vehicles, or EV's, point to Xcel Energy's new proposal, which involves adding 750 high-speed charging stations, as a big step in building up the region's capacity.

Along with commitments from other utilities there's also $68 million from the federal infrastructure law to help add locations. M.K. Anderson, senior policy associate for energy transition for Fresh Energy, said these are all important steps.

"So," said Anderson, "if all of this happens, our state will be just incredibly equipped for the EV revolution that is coming."

Xcel's plan, which still needs to be considered by regulators, includes figuring out locations in rural areas where charging stations are harder to come by.

The utility estimates roughly 8,000 public fast-charging ports are needed statewide as Minnesota prepares for the market shift toward EV's. Xcel's plan does call on ratepayers to help cover construction costs.

Right now, less than 1% of vehicle registrations in Minnesota are EV's.

Tim Sexton, chief sustainability officer and assistant commissioner for sustainability and public health with the state Department of Transportation, said boosting infrastructure will play a big role in convincing more car-buyers to change their approach.

"I think it's really important that people see those chargers out there," said Sexton, "you know, to help them think about opportunities for EVs."

As the state bolsters this infrastructure, Sexton said they're trying to be mindful of how people use these vehicles, depending on their location.

"In the Twin Cities metro," said Sexton, "a lot of people, you know, may only be driving 20 miles a day and may have access to charging at work and they don't need, necessarily, the same kind of public chargers - or at least not as frequently - as people who live in rural communities because they need to travel further."