Tag Archives: economic development

#AmericanWindWeek: Offshore wind powers the opportunity for a new ocean energy resource

By Celeste Wanner, Into the Wind, AWEA Blog

Day 5 of #AmericanWindWeek is here, and today we’re celebrating a new ocean energy resource: offshore wind. Interest in offshore wind has exploded in the three years since the Block Island Wind Farm became the first U.S. offshore wind project. States up and down the East Coast have made big commitments to offshore wind, and there are intriguing projects in the works off California’s coast and the Great Lakes. And just in time for #AmericanWindWeek, the Department of Energy (DOE) has a new report that explores the state of offshore wind.
Continue reading here.

Clean Tech Jobs Lead Employment Statistics In Many US States

By Steve Hanley, CleanTechnica

Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and projections from the Projections Managing Partnership, Yahoo Finance has charted which jobs are in high demand in all 50 US states. It says solar panel installer is the fastest growing job in eight different states — California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Florida, North Carolina, Missouri, Minnesota, and New Jersey. According to the BLS, that job is known as a “PV installer” . . . In Colorado, Texas, Nebraska, and Iowa, wind turbine service technicians are in high demand. Read more here.

FEATURED NEBRASKA PROGRAM

Nebraska Community College GAP Assistance Program
The program, which began July 1, 2016, receives 9% of the available Nebraska Lottery funds set aside for education each year. Gap Program funds are distributed to the state’s six community colleges, which recruit and select eligible low-income students in eligible programs to receive grants.

Nebraska’s Coordinating Commission For Postsecondary Education administers the program, which is under the direction of the Nebraska Community College Student Performance and Occupational Education Grant Committee.

Student grants may be used for tuition, direct training costs, required books and equipment, and fees. Eligible programs include renewable energy. Visit the website to learn more about the program.

ALSO IN THE NEWS

Central City, others honored for community development efforts, by Paul Hammel, Omaha World-Herald
Central City, Nebraska, was honored Monday by Gov. Pete Ricketts as the state’s 2019 “Showcase Community” for its economic development efforts, which include continuing local business growth and use of solar energy. The award was given during a press conference marking “Economic Development Week” in the state. 

OPPD named top utility for economic development

By Paula Lukowski, OPPD Blog, The Wire 

For the second year in a row, Site Selection named OPPD one of 2018’s “Top Utilities in Economic Development”. . . Significant projects that OPPD landed include Facebook (100-plus jobs, $1.2 billion-plus investment), Veramaris (20 jobs, $200 million-plus investment) and Novozymes (10 jobs, $215 million-plus investment). Other efforts highlighted by Site Selection include the creation of OPPD’s rate 261M, the Rattlesnake Creek Wind project and the Integrate Energy Marketplace strategic initiative, which includes an enhanced economic development strategy.
Read more here.

Image Credit: Facebook

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

  • OPPD’s The Wire Series: How Does That Work?
    Data Centers,     by Jason Kuiper
    The Omaha metro area has a number of data centers, including Yahoo, Travelers, Cabela’s, Verizon and First Data, and the newest, a Facebook data center in Sarpy County. There are now more than 20 data centers that call the Omaha metro area home.
    Read the entire blog post and others in the series here.
  • Muth making a difference at OPPD and for environment, The Wire
    A self-professed biologist in an engineer’s world, Emily Muth is pursuing her passions while serving in the energy industry. Muth, Environmental Affairs administrator, is the lead environmental auditor for OPPD. In her role, she travels around the district to power plants and work sites to ensure environmental compliance with air and water quality and waste management. She focuses on ensuring requirements are met and looking for ways to improve processes. Muth is most proud of her involvement with the Prairie in Progress program at OPPD, a recent effort where some OPPD grounds are being restored to prairie land to help pollinators thrive, particularly the monarch butterfly.