Energy Pipeline

A recent review of the U.S. wind industry in 2014 was filled with glowing description, with Colorado earning several of the positive nods.

The American Wind Energy Association’s annual report showed that Colorado ended 2014 in the lead nationally in manufacturing jobs and was third in overall wind industry workers, with more than 6,000.

Across the board, wind industry jobs and turbine deployment in the U.S. regained momentum in 2014, adding 23,000 jobs, and boosting the sector’s total to 73,000 jobs, according to the AWEA’s 2014 report.

The biggest job growth was in Colorado, with much of that due to Denmark-based Vestas Wind Systems, the world’s largest maker of wind turbines and operator of two factories in Brighton and one each in Windsor and Pueblo.

The AWEA annual report also detailed how almost 4,900 megawatts of wind projects were added in the U.S. in 2014, which is four times the amount added in 2013, with the industry driving $12 billion in private investment last year, for a total of more than $100 billion since 2008.

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