Ohio enacts tough renewable law
Ohio now becomes the 26th state, including California, New York and Texas, to adopt renewable energy portfolio standards (RPS) - tough new laws which are creating one of the most dramatic shifts in the delivery of energy to American consumers ever.
Dozens of planned coal, natural gas and diesel-fired power plants have been cancelled across the country. Instead, 60-gigawatts of wind and solar power (enough energy to serve 20 million American homes) will be constructed, according to a new study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Not surprisingly, wind and solar companies are enjoying record growth. Solar wafer maker ReneSola and photovoltaic company Yingli Green Energy both received upgrades from analysts at Piper Jaffray recently.
But as busy as the solar companies are wind is America's renewable energy of choice. Last year the wind industry installed an astonishing 5244-megawatts of new wind power outpacing solar's 254-megawatts by 20-1. The American Wind Energy Association estimates Ohio's new RPS law on its own will result in at least $10 billion of new wind energy project investments.
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WASHINGTON - WEC Energy Group, the parent company of We Energies, is buying an 80% stake in a wind farm in McLean County, Illinois, for $345 million.
The wind farm, known as the Blooming Grove Wind Farm, is being developed by Invenergy, a company based in Chicago that develops wind, solar and other power projects. WEC Energy has invested in several wind farms developed by Invenergy.
With the agreement announced Monday, WEC Energy will have invested more than $1.2 billion in wind farms in the Midwest. The power from the wind farms is sold to other utilities or companies, and the projects…
