Wind Energy

Wind energy: Wind industry honors Dan Juhl with community wind award

The award, given via nominations and selections from the Community Wind Peer Group, goes annually to a person who has made an exceptionally significant contribution to the establishment and growth of community wind as a uniquely valuable form of clean, renewable energy. The award was presented in Atlanta during the recent WINDPOWER 2012 Conference & Exhibition.

Windustry said Juhl, currently chairman and CEO of community wind-focused developer Juhl Wind, was chosen for his years of pioneering work in the field, his creative vision and bold leadership, his sharing of practical information, and his drive and passion in working to establish and expand the community wind market.

“Dan’s work is varied and spans a long history working with different sizes of turbines and adapting business models, such as the Minnesota flip [a financing model that helps local wind farm project owners with low tax liabilities make use of tax incentives to develop wind farm projects],” the group said in a release. “Dan’s work spans many years with many groups of rural citizens and farmers to put wind projects in the ground.”

In presenting the award, Windustry Executive Director Lisa Daniels said, “Developing a wind project is not easy on any level; blazing the trail for the community wind market adds that much more complexity. Dan has had an unwavering commitment to community wind energy in the face of huge challenges. Thank goodness Dan has never understood the word no.”

The 2012 Community Wind Peer Group participants included Daniels, Tom Wind of Wind Utility Associates, Kevin Schulte of Sustainable Energy Developments, Jacob Susman of OwnEnergy, and Larry Flowers of AWEA.

By Carl Levesque, AWEA Editor & Publications Manager, www.awea.org/blog