The White House Tuesday touted a Department of Energy report showing "strong growth" in the US wind energy market in 2011.
Authored by scientists at DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the report showed that about 6,800 MW of new wind power capacity was installed in 2011, a 31% increase from 2010. The US has 50,000 MW of wind power capacity and six states now meet more than 10% of their total electricity needs with wind power, it said.
"President Obama has made clear that clean, renewable wind energy is a critical part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy that aims to develop more secure, domestic energy sources, while strengthening American manufacturing," the DOE said in statement highlighting the report.
Wind power comprised 32% of new electricity generation that came online in 2011, according to the report. California led the nation with 921 MW of new wind power capacity added, while Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Colorado each added more than 500 MW.
The researchers expect 2012 capacity additions to exceed 2011 levels, as developers rush to commission projects in advance of the December 31 expiration of the federal Production Tax Credit, they said in the report. However, uncertainty over whether the tax credit will be extended "threatens to dramatically slow new builds in 2013 and beyond," they said.
Low natural gas prices, modest electricity demand growth and a lack of state policies promoting wind power may also hamper developers in 2013, the scientists said.
"In combination with growing global competition within the sector, these trends have already negatively impacted the US wind power industry's supply chain," they said.
The White House in recent weeks has ratcheted up its messaging on President Obama's support for the wind industry, after Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, said last month that he would support letting the production tax credit expire.
OBAMA RAPS ROMNEY ON TAX CREDITS
Obama has repeatedly called on Congress to extend the tax credit, saying it has spurred job growth in the wind power industry, in addition to boosting clean energy. Indeed, the DOE report warns that expiration of the tax credit could result in the loss of 37,000 jobs, citing estimates from the industry.
Indeed, Danish wind developer Vestas Monday began laying off about 100 employees at its turbine plant in Pueblo, Colorado, citing a soft market for wind in the absence of a tax credit extension.
"President Obama has called for an extension of these successful tax credits to ensure America leads the world in manufacturing the clean-energy technologies of the future," DOE said in its statement.
The Democratic-led Senate Finance Committee approved a tax credit extension earlier this month, but the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has yet to take up the issue.
The DOE report comes as Obama and Romney's vice presidential pick, Paul Ryan, campaign this week in Iowa, a key battleground state that has the nation's second-largest installed wind capacity.
The Wisconsin congressman has previously called for the credit to expire. Romney's campaign has said the wind industry is mature and should be able to sustain itself without government subsidies.
Obama, meanwhile, accused Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, of turning his back on Iowa's 7,000 wind industry jobs.
"My opponent and I disagree when it comes to homegrown energy like wind," Obama said at a campaign stop in the city of Boone. "Wind power is creating new jobs all across Iowa. But Governor Romney says he wants to end the tax credit for wind energy producers. Without these wind energy tax credits, those jobs are at risk."
