PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND GREEN ENERGY/ENVIRONMENTAL COMPANIES

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Stimulus package a ‘shot in the arm’ for alternative-energy industry, Colorado execs say

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/02/16/daily7.html

Denver Business Journal - by Cathy Proctor

President Barack Obama’s new stimulus package, which Obama is scheduled to sign in Denver Tuesday, is a much-needed boost for Colorado’s flagging renewable energy companies, and also a pat on the back for the state and its focus on alternative energy, say leaders of Colorado renewable energy companies.

“I think it will help Colorado gain prominence in the renewable energy arena,” said Blake Jones, president of Boulder’s Namaste Solar Electric Inc., who is attending the bill signing Tuesday at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

“We’ve been wanting to help the governor and others to attract other renewable energy companies to come to Colorado and this will help in that effort,” Jones said.

From wind energy to solar power, the stimulus package offers the industry support at a time when sales have slowed and financing has dried up.

“The solar industry has been buzzing with excitement,” Jones said.

“I’ve talked to CEOs of many solar companies over the weekend around the nation to compare notes. The general consensus is that the provisions that we’ve been focusing on, related to solar and renewable energy, will have a very positive impact on the solar industry,” he said.

“The stimulus package is a shot in the arm,” said Roby Roberts, the senior vice president of external affairs for Vestas, the Danish wind turbine manufacturer that is planning to make Colorado its major manufacturing center in the United States.

Vestas last year opened a manufacturing plant in Windsor, north of Denver, to build the giant blades that turn in the wind, generating electricity. The company also has announced plans for two more manufacturing plants in Brighton and Pueblo for other pieces of its wind turbines.

And the company’s suppliers are following Vestas to Colorado.

Hexcel Corp. (NYSE: HXL), based in Stamford, Conn., which supplies components to Vestas, will celebrate a ground breaking Feb. 19 for its new plant in Windsor, near Vestas’ plant.

Roby said the stimulus package will help the nation’s wind industry — and Colorado’s as well — on several levels.

A three-year extension in tax credits for producing wind energy, until 2012, is the longest extension the industry has ever had in the United States. The timeline will stabilize the market and open it up to buyers who hadn’t been interested in wind energy before, Roberts said.

The package also has tax credits for U.S.-based manufacturing of the equipment associated with renewable energy, Robert said.

“The rules aren’t written yet, but that will make doing business in Colorado easier for us,” he said. “There’s a lot of things in things in the stimulus bill that will really help our industry. This is a really important piece of legislation for Colorado.”

Vestas is hiring people for its plants, but with the global slowdown, it won’t hire ahead of customer demand for wind turbines, Roberts said.

“There’s a possibility that we could slow the hiring process down, but we really do believe in the U.S. market and we’re bringing a lot to the game in Colorado,” he said.

Jones said a measure in the package to offer a “renewable energy grant” — worth 30 percent of the value of the solar power installation — will be a big help for the solar industry and Namaste. It’s a change from the former federal subsidy of a 30 percent tax credit on the value of the solar system, which has lost value in the recession with many companies not expecting profits — or tax liabilities this year.

“It’s the same 30 percent, the same cost to the taxpayers, but now paid in the form of a grant,” Jones said. “It’s payable if you have a [tax] liability or not, and you don’t have to wait for tax time. You’ll get a grant from the Treasury Department in 60 days.”

Residential and commercial systems are eligible for the grant, Jones said.

“That’s huge,” he said. “It will allow a lot of our projects to move forward, a lot of them that have been on hold since the financial crisis started.”