Construction on the first phase of the £132 Glacier Wind Farm in Glacier and Toole Counties, Montana was completed last year involving the employment of 375 construction workers who descended on the local area of Shelby. The second phase of this 210 megawatt, 140 turbine project has now started creating many more renewable energy jobs and providing significant economic benefits for the local area.
Toole County’s Development Director Deb Brandon said that, “thanks to the start of construction of the Glacier Wind Farm, the county’s unemployment has held steady at 3.2 percent, far lower than the national and even state average…eventually, the wind farm will hire between 25 and 40 full-time employees”.
Obama wants to boost employment and create a more energy self sufficient US by capitalising on the wind energy rush across the US. A $50 billion economic stimulus package specifically for renewable energy projects is proposed by DOE’s Steven Chu who has committed to kick starting the the energy programs as speedily as possible.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the director of the DOE’s loan guarantee program wants to “significantly shorten the cycle time from application to loan guarantee to ensure good projects get funded quickly”.
