August 20, 2013
By Dan McGuire

LINCOLN, NE –August 20, 2013 – “For the sixth year in a row the American Corn Growers Foundation (ACGF) will sponsor the Annual Nebraska Wind Energy Conference. It will be held November 13-15, 2013 at the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln,” said Dan McGuire, ACGF Wealth from the Wind project director and Co-Chair of the 6th Annual Nebraska Wind Conference. “We anticipate another well attended conference as it will include state, regional and national wind energy leaders and experts. The program will be extremely informative and valuable. A great addition this year will be solar energy sessions, with industry experts and leaders.”

“Nebraska has come a long way since the early 2000’s when the ACGF launched our Wealth from the Wind public outreach and educational program here. By 2014, with existing and planned wind projects, the state is projected to have just over 800 MW (megawatts) of installed capacity. Nebraska still has a long way to go to catch up with our neighboring states but we have tremendous upside growth potential. Nebraska policy needs to facilitate more in-state community and distributed wind energy projects. More wind projects means more rural economic development and that’s a big boost for our total economy and for all Nebraskans,” says McGuire.

The 2013 conference program has a number of confirmed, well-known national wind and renewable energy industry experts. Speakers confirmed at this time include: national wind industry leader Dan Juhl, CEO of Juhl Energy; a former high level USDA rural development official; and representatives of Nebraska’s three major public power entities (NPPD, OPPD and LES). Nebraska is also part of the regional Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and there will be SPP experts speaking on the program to provide updates and information on transmission and other key issues. Other experts will include managers of two rural electric cooperatives.

McGuire and the ACGF urge individuals interested in the future of wind energy policy and project development in both Nebraska and regionally to visit the 2013 Nebraska Wind Conference web site at www.NebraskaWindConference.com where they can register early and consider being an exhibitor or sponsor.

“The 2013 Nebraska Wind Conference continues the essential public wind energy outreach work that ACGF has been doing in Nebraska for over ten years. The ACGF first launched our major public wind energy outreach effort in the state in the early 2000’s and later partnered with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Wind Powering America (WPA) program. Then in 2007 we teamed up with the Nebraska Wind Working Group. It has all been a very successful program. The ACGF was very active with an educational booth at Husker Harvest Days early on,” said McGuire. “We had wind energy radio spots on the Rural Radio Network. We were at the Nebraska State Fair and in other regional venues such as the Farm Progress Show disseminating technical wind energy materials from NREL-WPA and AWEA to rural audiences and public officials. ACGF also helped lead the way in developing new wind energy policy in Nebraska. In 2003 the ACGF brought Minnesota wind industry policy leader Dan Juhl to Nebraska. Mr. Juhl convinced policy leaders of the rural economic benefits generated by wind energy, which led to the Nebraska Legislature adopting policies in 2007 that allowed the privately-owned wind projects we’re seeing built in the state today.”

The ACGF has been a lead agricultural organization in advocating innovative wind energy policies on the state, regional and national levels and by promoting wind energy for rural economic development since 2000. The ACGF has participated in every national WINDPOWER conference since 2002 and is a member of both the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA).

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