Wind power may be an intermittent source of energy and so too may be the job market associated with this industry. At least this is the report over at Earth2Tech where they are talking about several wind power companies who have announced layoffs because of the faltering economy.
One of the companies that has not announced layoffs yet is First Wind that has offices in both Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon an other places across the United States. First Wind has just announced the kickoff of their Stetson Wind project in Washington County, Maine where the turbine will supply power to around 23,500 homes.
The Stetson Wind project is a 57 megawatt wind farm, the largest in New England. The project took one year to complete and created 350 jobs. Workers assembled and positioned 38 General Electric 1.5 megawatt wind turbines and is now supplying electricity to the grid. There is no word yet as to what is to become of the employees who had worked on the project now that it has been completed.
On the other coast near Portland, Oregon First Wind has also gotten its wings clipped as it has withdrawn its proposed Cascade Wind Farm project from the Oregon Department of Energy. Due to opposition for the chosen site for the wind farm, the proposal has been tabled for the time being.
As the nation needs wind energy and green jobs in the foreseeable future, yet balanced with the needs of environmentalists and homeowners one can look for more conflict and compromises in this emerging industry in the weeks and months to follow.
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