business

Minnesota can triple its wind-generated output to nearly 6,000 megawatts, power about 1.5 million homes, rejuvenate the manufacturing sector with 3,000 jobs and generate $8 billion in new economic activity over the next decade, according to the latest Minnesota 2020 report. But that depends on whether government and industry embrace the large green-growth opportunity, the think tank said.

"Just as Minnesota coupled its natural resources with a well-trained labor force to become a pioneer in food production and health care, we can repeat this formula to rise as a national center for renewable energy," said Minnesota 2020 Executive Director John Van Hecke.

Minnesota, the fourth-biggest wind generator (behind California, Texas and Iowa), is under a mandate to generate 25 percent of its power from renewable energy by 2025. Minnesota 2020, a three-year-old nonprofit organization established by gubernatorial hopeful Matt Entenza, said that mandate can be satisfied largely by wind. Among the recommendations:

•The state should localize wind turbine building and attract foreign wind energy manufacturers to promote technology transfer and give Minnesota companies experience in the turbine-manufacturing sector.

•Encourage local ownership, which has greater local economic impact than corporate-owned wind farms.

"The study's numbers look accurate and the projections in terms of jobs are possible," said John Dunlop, an engineer involved in the wind industry for 30 years and Great Plains regional director of the American Wind Energy Association.

The state's wind industry slumped with the 2008-09 recession and credit crunch. However, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in February, includes a three-year extension of the tax credits that have spurred wind as a low-cost alternative and also set up a $6 billion Department of Energy renewable energy loan guarantee program that Minnesota 2020 said should stimulate the Minnesota wind industry.

NEAL ST. ANTHONY