By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
SAGINAW, MI –
Governor Granholm says a wind turbine plant to be located in Saginaw will be a breakthrough in renewable energy manufacturing and a boon to parts suppliers struggling to recover from lost automotive business. She says suppliers are lined up to provide components to Northern Power Systems, which will assemble the state-of-the-art wind turbines.
"It's all Michigan-made, all Michigan employees working on these huge turbines, 75 Michigan suppliers formally to the auto industry now supplying products to make this turbines - landing in Michigan, it's very good news for this state and it's only the beginning," she says.
The turbine company will supply wind generators to a Traverse City energy company that has a wind farm in the Upper Peninsula. One of the wind farm's first customers will be the Michigan utility Consumers Energy. Consumers will use the wind-generated electricity to help it comply with a state that requires utilities to use more sources of renewable power.
Consumers officials say the renewable electricity will be slightly more expensive at the outset than power from coal plants. But they expect the cost will go down quickly.
reWorking Michigan
For more on job creation and workforce evolution in Michigan, visit WKAR.org/reworkingmichigan