Wind Farms Could Create Thousands of New Neb. Jobs
Report: Up to 40,000 new Nebraska jobs over next 2 decades if more wind farms built in state
By NATE JENKINS
The Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb.
Harnessing Nebraska's largely untapped wind-energy resources could create up to 40,000 jobs over the next two decades if a federal goal is met, according to a report.
The report, done by the National Renewable Energy Lab for the Nebraska Energy Office, was presented at wind-energy meetings held in Nebraska in December. It says that if a federal goal of having wind energy make up 20 percent of the U.S. energy supply by 2030 is met, 7,800 megawatts of wind energy would be produced in Nebraska.
Up to 4,000 of the projected 40,000 jobs would be permanent jobs lasting as long as each wind facility operated, which is typically about two decades.
The report also estimated that 4,700 temporary and permanent jobs would be created over the next 20 years if wind farms generating just 1,000 megawatts — much less than the 7,800 megawatts under the federal goal — were built.
Currently, wind farms in the state have the capacity to produce just 153 megawatts — significantly less than any state that abuts Nebraska. In Iowa, for example, existing wind farms have the capacity to produce more than 3,000 megawatts, and in Kansas, more than 1,000 megawatts.
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