Governor declares April 13–18 “Indiana Wind Energy Week”

INDIANAPOLIS (April 13, 2009) – Following an announcement from the American Wind Energy Association that Indiana is the fastest-growing state for wind energy installations in 2008 and planned groundbreaking events for two new wind farms this week in the state, Governor Mitch Daniels has declared April 13-18 as “Indiana Wind Energy Week.” 

“We welcome the news that Indiana is the fastest-growing state for wind power energy. We’ve made homegrown clean energy production a priority, and we are proud to become a leader in new wind energy installations,” said Daniels.

Two groundbreaking ceremonies for wind energy projects totaling 306 megawatts (MW) are set for this week in Benton and White counties. Horizon Wind Energy plans to break ground on a 200 MW project in White County on Tuesday, and enXco is beginning a 106 MW project in Benton County on Friday.

Indiana currently has 130 MW of commercially available wind energy installed. With the completion of these two projects and the 400 MW Fowler Ridge Wind Farm in Benton and Tippecanoe counties under development by BP Alternative Energy and Dominion Resources, Indiana could have a total of 836 MW of commercially available wind energy installed by the end of 2009.  This would move Indiana past such traditional wind-producing states as South Dakota and Wyoming.

A copy of the proclamation can be found at this address: http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Press/WindEnergyWeek.pdf

The announcement from the American Wind Energy Association can be found at this address:  http://www.awea.org/