Wind jobs in Colorado expected to boom

Wind is a big deal - Colorado's northern and eastern plains are some of the best places in the country to site wind farms, comprising 300-foot-tall wind turbines capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of electricity each when the wind blows.

Erecting the turbines creates hundreds of temporary construction jobs, along with lease payments and taxes that pump millions into the rural economy.

The state is also home to plants that manufacture turbine parts. Danish wind energy giant Vestas' three Colorado turbine plants in Windsor, Brighton and Pueblo will eventually employ nearly 2,500 people.

Wind energy electrical generation capacity has grown from 220 megawatts in 2004 to 1,068 megawatts in 2007 in Colorado, and could eventually hit 3,000 megawatts, said Keith Hay, an energy advocate at the environmental advocacy group Environment Colorado.

In 2005, wind energy created 25 jobs.

By 2010, that will be more than 2,600, Hay said.

"We're looking at billions of dollars of investment in '09, '10," Hay said. "We're seeing not just jobs, but really strong economic growth and private investment coming into the state."

In coming years, Colorado could see another 2,000 or more turbines to the 750 already spinning in the state, said Tony Frank, renewable energy development director for the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.

"Wind is projected to continue to grow at meteoric rates," said Don Elliman, director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.