WINDPOWER 2017 panelists, presenters discuss future of wind industry

During the closing General Session panel at the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) WINDPOWER 2017 Conference, leaders from a diverse set of organizations discussed the trends that they believe will drive the future of the wind energy industry.

The panel consisted of leaders of a corporate purchaser, deregulated utility and wind developer as well as a public utility commissioner. Demand from diverse customers, increased transmission development, decreasing costs and storytelling were among the trends mentioned.

“By continuing to get cost competitive, continuing to improve the wind energy product – it’s already
great – you’ll capture a lot of potential customers out there, not only public utilities and corporate purchasers, but municipal utilities, rural co-ops, and other entities,” Buzz Miller, president and CEO of Southern Power, a deregulated utility and power producer, said.

By 2020, the wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) will have completed its current phase-out. In his remarks and columns in trade media during the conference, AWEA CEO Tom Kiernan outlined 16 trends he believes will help sustain the industry beyond the phase-out including decreasing costs, enacting more state policies like those in California and improvements to the power grid and transmission infrastructure.

“Wind can stay attractive,” Miller said. “You fix some of the transmission issues around, keep vibrant, and we can get through that [the PTC phase out].”