Article published Apr 28, 2008

Expert touts wind energy in MSU-GF presentation

By KARL PUCKETT

Tribune Staff Writer

An Idaho man who promotes wind-powered electricity for the U.S. Department of Energy will give a public presentation on the industry Wednesday in Great Falls

Gary Seifert, a program manager at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory, also will meet privately Thursday with Montana State University-Great Falls College of Technology administrators about forming the state's first wind-training program.

He runs a regional outreach effort for the DOE called Wind Powering America, which promotes the industry in Montana and other states with big wind but little development.

"My focus is to get young kids interested as well as helping ranches and developers putting wind on their property," he said.

Seifert will provide an overview of the wind industry at a public meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at MSU-Great Falls. Northcentral Montanans in eight additional communities can watch the presentation via interactive television.

Seifert will discuss Montana's development potential and provide details about wind farm jobs during the public meeting.

"Montana has enough untapped wind right now to essentially power half of the West, and yet Montana is one of the smallest in installed capacity in the West," Seifert said Friday.

The state has about 164 megawatts of installed capacity, which ranks 16th in the country.

Wind-generated production of electricity will jump by at least 210 megawatts later this year, when the Glacier Wind Project on the border of Glacier and Toole counties is scheduled to be completed. Work on that project began in March.

Developers also are considering projects in the Golden Triangle along a proposed transmission line that is under review by state and federal regulators.

Seifert said jobs and the creation of additional tax base are the long-term benefits of wind power develop for counties and cities. For every 10 megawatts of installed capacity, one job is created, he said.

There's about 1,000 positions open nationwide in the industry, he said.

"They're not McDonald's jobs," Seifert said. "They are high-end, blue-collar type of workers."

Typically, workers in the field maintain electrical equipment and the gear boxes, he said.

While he's in town, Seifert also will meet with MSU-Great Falls administrators Thursday.

MSU-Great Falls has informed the board of regents of the Montana University System that it is investigating the creation of a wind-energy technology program, said Joe Schaffer, the school's assistant dean. No decision has been made on whether to create the program.

The college already has consulted with industry officials and educational institutions in other states that offer training in wind-related fields.

"Part of our mission is to be responsive to development needs," Schaffer said.

The program, if instituted, would prepare technicians to assemble wind turbines and do routine maintenance at wind farms, Schaffer said.

No other Montana school he knows of is offering a similar program, he said.

Seifert was invited to the Electric City by Cascade County Commissioner Peggy Beltrone, who serves on the Wind Powering America steering committee. During the public meeting, she will give an update on that committee's goal to have wind energy provide 20 percent of the county's power by 2030.

Beltrone invited Seifert to speak after hearing him address engineering students at Montana Tech in Butte, she said.

"There just seems to be a lot of questions," she said, such as, "Are there really jobs associated with wind energy?"