Wind Powering America program honors several for contributions to advancing wind energy

At its annual State Summit recently, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America program presented awards to a number of groups and individuals for their contributions to advancing the use of wind energy in the United States.

Those honored include:

Outstanding Wind Working Group: Georgia Wind Working Group for their efforts in promoting wind energy in Georgia and the Southeast, including support for the 2012 WINDPOWER Conference.

Outstanding Leadership in Education: Gwen Andersen of St. Francis University for her efforts to spearhead the development of broad-based education development in wind energy.

Outstanding Wind Powering America Partner: Southern Alliance for Clean Energy for their efforts to support the development of land based and offshore wind power development in the southeast.

Larry Flowers Outstanding Leadership Award: Mackinaw Power and the Gratiot Community Wind Farm Project, which demonstrates clear leadership in the development of wind power projects in harmony with the local community.

Young Advocate Award: Karin Wadsack of Northern Arizona University for her incredible energy and creativity in developing educational support for wind energy across the state.

Small Wind Leadership Award: Brett Pingree for his tireless efforts around the support of the small and community wind turbines industry.

Western Regional Leadership: Western Interstate Energy Board for their forward-thinking efforts around the development of the Western Renewable Energy Zones and multi-state collaboration in transmission planning.

Midwestern Regional Leadership: Windustry for their many years of work supporting community wind development, specifically the Community Wind Across America conference series.

Eastern Regional Leadership: Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for their long term and strong leadership across the state and region focusing on offshore and community scale wind farm development.

Lifetime Achievement: Dwight Bailey, Project Manager, National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.

Tom Gray, www.awea.org/blog/