July 9, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1209 today, wind does not happen overnight. 350 salaried professionals work in grow with the wind industry nationwide. Bringing a wind project to fruition requires Mortenson’s Renewable Energy groups and Today Blattner and Mortenson are the two meticulous studies, surveys, permitting, and are focused on constructing renewable en- largest builders of wind farms in North other development activities. The careful ergy and transmission & distribution America. placement and development of wind can take projects. The PTC has contributed greatly to At Blattner we employ approximately 1,500 years. our organization’s positive growth in the re- people directly in wind and more through We are proud that our projects have boost- newable energy sector. our subcontractors and suppliers. Of course ed the economies of small towns and rural In 1995 Mortenson constructed our first our role in a wind project is the last one. communities across the state. Landowner wind project in Adair, IA, and have con- Consequently, our employees will be busy payments and additional tax revenue for structed over 120 wind projects across North right up until December 31 of this year. But communities provides funding for new roads, America to date. We’ve witnessed technology as was mentioned earlier, new wind work in schools, and other infrastructure across the advancements over the past seven years, 2013 is unlikely and reduction will have to community. Farming is sporadic. Today crop driven by the PTC, that have helped to make occur. prices are high, however, we do not know wind energy more affordable and projects Blattner has been in the wind industry for what prices will be tomorrow. A sustainable more cost competitive. Our construction 15 years. We have seen the FTC expire before. income for farmers means more investment projects have grown from a handful of tur- But there is so much more at stake now than in equipment, technology, and the family bines to large, multi-phase projects spanning earlier. There are 500 US manufacturing fa- farm. hundreds of square miles. cilities building components for the wind in- Without the PTC extension our pipeline of Right now, Mortenson is building 18 wind dustry. Once those facilities close, a stable projects will be at risk. Hundreds of MWs of projects in 10 states, all scheduled to com- enough wind industry environment may wind development will be stalled. This lapse plete before the end of 2012. Each project never exist for them to be recaptured. They will interfere with permitting, interconnec- constructed in the US bolsters our country’s will be outsourced again overseas. Those jobs tion, and other development activities. De- larger economy while playing a vital role in are beginning to diminish right now because velopers in Minnesota need a stable market. sustaining smaller local economies across there is no positive signal that a stable tax We look forward to further development America. We’ve seen firsthand the signifi- policy will be in place in the future. We ask across the state. With an extension of the cant and revitalizing impact on rural com- Congress to continue its bi-partisan support PTC we will be able to ensure the livelihood munities surrounding wind projects. Over for the FTC. Keep people working and extend of rural communities and increase Min- the construction period, jobs are made avail- the FTC now before your recess. nesota leadership within the wind industry. able to the local labor force, major construc- f tion contracts are awarded to local busi- STATEMENT BY MR. MARK AHLSTROM OF BB–USS TEXAS 35 WINDLOGICS nesses and suppliers, while fabrication, Wind farms are power plants that use wind maintenance, and repair shops all see in- as their fuel, so careful analysis is needed to creasingly positive economic impacts due to HON. TED POE find good locations and understand the wind the wind project. Throughout the life of a OF TEXAS patterns. WindLogics is a Saint Paul com- project, more than $500,000 may be infused IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES into an area’s hotels, restaurants, and living pany with 52 people here in Minnesota and Monday, July 9, 2012 we provide these weather analysis services to facilities due to construction traveler spend- project developers throughout the country. ing alone. Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as a kid We were bigger. Because it takes time to col- While Mortenson maintains an aggressive growing up in Spring Branch, I always looked lect and analyze the weather data to create and busy 2012, those here who have spoken forward to the long days of the hot Texas good projects, we felt the impact of the Pro- before me, are the leading indicators for the summers. Long days meant more time to play duction Tax Credit expiration more than likelihood of future project construction. Due to the lack of a PTC extension, we’re outside. I didn’t know that summers in the nine months ago and had to reduce our staff other parts of the world were not steamy like by 10 people. seeing a decline in turbine orders and hesi- It takes 18 months to plan and build a wind tation to develop projects. Mortenson is un- here in Houston. (I now tell my friends in project even under the best of circumstances, certain of the number of US wind farms we Washington that are from the north, that Hous- and companies cannot plan and finance wind will construct in 2013. This will impact the ton has two seasons: Summer and August.) projects with uncertainty around the tax livelihood of hundreds of employees, sub- Like most kids in the neighborhood, my sister, credit. So because we work early in the contractors and other industry partners Jayne, and I played outdoors a good portion project development cycle, what we saw last across the country. of the day and didn’t come in ’til dark. We The uncertainty surrounding the PTC ex- fall was that project planning for 2013 essen- knew that when the porch light came on, we tially stopped. tension threatens the success of and further This is a terrible shame because we have development of the wind industry, and there- had to be home within five minutes of seeing clients who want to invest billions of dollars by the American economy. Because of the the ‘‘beacon’’ or there would be con- in new wind projects. The industry has long-term nature of the planning and permit- sequences. Occasionally, we got to take sum- scaled up to the point where it can con- ting process, short-term extensions of PTC mer excursions with the family to the battle- tribute $20 billion a year in private invest- are insufficient for sustaining consistent, grounds, the Monument and, of course, the ment to the U.S. economy, with U.S. manu- long term growth of the industry. In con- Battleship Texas. facturing and jobs, but this is on hold until junction with those here today, we implore My fondness for the USS Texas began in the Production Tax Credit is renewed. New our legislators to reinstate the PTC. A long- term (2–4 year) extension is crucial to avert- those days and has stuck with me throughout projects can’t just stop and start instantly, my life and career. As kids, we thought it was so any delay on renewing the tax credit just ing the damaging impact to America’s labor puts us that much further behind. force and the long-term growth of our indus- ‘‘cool’’ that Texas had its own battleship. We Wind energy is a great business that I love, try, which holds so much promise to our fu- would pretend to shoot the guns on the ship, and I want WindLogics to get back to help- ture generations. run through the countless corridors, hide in the ing people build new projects. We need a STATEMENT BY MR. DOUG FREDRICKSON OF nooks and crannies, and generally live in the prompt renewal of the Production Tax Credit BLATTNER ENERGY disappearing past of the history of the great to make that happen. Blattner has been in the wind industry for battlewagon. My best friend, Pete Cliburn, and STATEMENT BY MR. TIM MAAG OF MORTENSON 15 years. We have seen the PTC expire before. I would climb from top to bottom of the CONSTRUCTION’S RENEWABLE ENERGY But there is so much more at stake now than ‘‘Mighty T,’’ firing every gun and squeezing I’ll echo the others in emphasizing the im- earlier. down every open hatch along the way. We ex- portance of this PTC extension. Due to the There are 500 US manufacturing facilities plored the many decks and climbed the lad- undeniable success of the PTC, businesses building components for the wind industry. like Mortenson have been able to provide Once those facilities close, a stable enough ders of the upper decks as high as we could stable jobs for American families. wind industry environment may never exist go. When you reached the top of the ladder of Mortenson Construction is a Minneapolis- for them to be recaptured. They will be the highest point, you better remember that based, family-owned construction company, outsourced again overseas. Construction the metal deck you were about to lay your with over 2,200 full time employees. may be an industry that has little fear from forearms on was as hot as a cast iron skillet! Mortenson has offices in Chicago, Denver, job loss due to ‘‘outsourcing’’. But you can But, as kids we couldn’t care less, we were Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Se- still lose your job and that’s why we’re fighting on the greatest battleship to have ever attle with international operations in Can- today.