Member Statements

"We need a strong RES to lead us away from an oil dependent economy. Generating electrical power from organic material is clean and efficient. Biomass power, is a substantial contributor to our nation’s renewable energy portfolio by not only reducing our dependence on the carbon producing sources of the past but by providing rural jobs and economic growth in every region of the country."
– Bob Cleaves, Biomass Power Association

“We are concerned that the significantly lower renewable targets currently being discussed, as compared to those proposed by President Obama, Chairman Bingaman and Chairman Markey, will severely blunt the signal for companies like ours that manufacture turbines and components to invest billions of dollars to expand production and our workforces in the U.S. America is competing for renewable energy manufacturing jobs with 37 other countries, including China, that have firm renewable electricity commitments in place. Now is the time for bold leadership to secure these jobs for the U.S.”
- Wind industry manufacturers’ letter to Congressional Leadership

"Vestas, the world's largest wind turbine supplier, plans to invest $1 billion in manufacturing facilities in the U.S. The company is also aggressively establishing a U.S.-based supply chain. By 2010, we expect to have over 4,000 employees in the U.S. Vestas is making these investments in the belief this Administration and Congress would follow through with its commitment to create a long-term clean energy policy. The U.S. needs to establish a strong Renewable Electricity Standard to provide a robust manufacturing base in this country."
– Roby Roberts, Senior Vice President of External Relations, Vestas Americas

"Passage of a Renewable Electricity Standard by Congress would send a clear signal that the United States is fully committed to building a sustainable renewables industry.”
– Vic Abate, Vice President, Renewables, GE, opinion piece in The Hill

"If Congress were to establish a Federal RES this year, GE would…explore the expansion of existing wind turbine assembly facilities and addition of new facilities…With a long-term stable policy GE can foresee the significant expansion of current blade and drive train supplier facilities and investment in 4-6 new tower manufacturing facilities. These investments could result in the creation of approximately 3,000-5,000 new jobs…[W]e are aware of 10 to 12 foreign suppliers who have expressed a strong interest in opening facilities in the U.S., but are awaiting a long term policy signal"
– Edward Lowe, GE, Testimony to House Committee on Energy and Commerce, February 26, 2009

"Gamesa is the perfect example of how a renewable energy portfolio standard can promote clean energy production, revitalize the U.S. manufacturing base, and create good and green local jobs. Pennsylvania has its own state-specific portfolio standard that has made the commonwealth a highly competitive place to do business for renewable energy development - so much so that Gamesa decided to locate its U.S. headquarters, East Coast development office and North American manufacturing facilities in the state. Since 2005, the company has invested more than $200 million in Pennsylvania and employs nearly 800 workers. A national renewable electricity standard puts the entire country on the same green economy page, helping us to build a clean energy future, making us safer and more secure at home, and repowering local economies by creating a nationwide market for renewable energy development."
– Michael Peck, Director of Media, Institutional & Labor Relations, Gamesa

"REpower USA believes passage of long-term policy supportive of wind energy, such as a national RES, provides a strong signal to companies such as REpower that are ready to make investment in wind industry jobs and economic growth. Absent such long-term stability the business case for investment becomes much more difficult to justify."
– Steve Dayney, CEO, REpower USA

“A strong and progressive renewable electricity standard (RES) is critical to moving the United States to a low-carbon economy. Requiring companies to meet a constantly escalating external standard for the use of renewable electricity will force the industry to increase significantly the pace of innovation, which would help drive down costs and increase efficiencies in clean energy. We have seen this happen before in the semiconductor industry, where Moore's Law has reduced the cost of computing by a factor of 20 million over the past 40 years. An effective RES can play a similar role in the renewables sector, particularly solar photovoltaics. This would accelerate the day when renewables become the low-cost alternative to fossil fuels. And most importantly, a strong RES would speed up the significant long-term payoff – both economically and environmentally.”
– Mike Splinter, Chairman and CEO, Applied Materials