AWEA congratulates Gardner as newly elected NRSC Chair

The American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) CEO Tom Kiernan and Board Chair Chris Brown congratulated Colorado Senator Cory Gardner today on his election as the new Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

“We proudly congratulate wind energy champion Senator Cory Gardner on his election as the next Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. With wind already investing $5.5 billion in the Colorado economy, and at times supplying more than 60 percent of the state’s electricity, Sen. Gardner has seen wind power’s success story first-hand. Wind farms are some of the greatest infrastructure projects this country has ever built but there’s a lot more to be done if wind energy is to meet its promise. We look forward to having Sen. Gardner as a leading voice in the Senate to keep wind power’s American success story going.” — Tom Kiernan, CEO of AWEA

“Over 80 percent of all U.S. wind farms are in Republican-held congressional districts and wind farms have become a cash crop for rural Americans, including for many Colorado ranchers and rural landowners. Wind has already invested over $144 billion in rural communities across the country and there’s another $80 billion on the way by 2020. We congratulate Sen. Gardner on his election as NRSC Chairman and look forward to working with him to deploy more wind energy that saves American families and businesses money and helps keep their lights on.” — Chris Brown, Board Chair for AWEA

Vestas employs nearly 3,700 Colorado workers and wind power supports up to 7,000 jobs in the state overall. Colorado is home to two of the nation’s top wind tech training programs and the wind turbine technician is the fastest-growing job in the U.S.

Polls show Americans support expanding wind energy and elected officials have taken notice, with Republicans, Democrats and Independents supporting more wind power. Thanks to long-term policy certainty, the price of wind energy has dropped by 66 percent in the last six years and over 20 gigawatts (GW) of wind power capacity are now under construction or in advanced development, soon adding to the wind power already installed in the U.S. that reliably supplies enough electricity for 20 million American homes.

AWEA’s Colorado wind energy fact sheet can be found here: http://bit.ly/1RNKLBP.