With the following speech, Governor Tommy Thompson dedicated the Glenmore wind turbines on Earth Day 1998.

Thank you, Pat Schrickel.

Thank you Wisconsin public service, Wisconsin Electric, Wisconsin Power & Light, Madison Gas & Electric. And thank you, also, the Electric Power Institute.

Thank you, Michael and Sandi Zirbel. Who would have thought that farmers someday would harvest the wind?

A key part of my energy strategy for the state of Wisconsin is to increase the use of cost effective renewable

energy resources in Wisconsin. We rely on imported oil, natural gas coal and nuclear fuels to meet 96 percent

of our energy needs.

Capturing cost effective opportunities to increase use of Wisconsin's renewable resources will create jobs right here in Wisconsin and will reduce the environmental impact from energy use.

I recently introduced my electric reliability bill, which has been passed by the legislature.

This bill recognizes the potential of renewable energy in Wisconsin by specifying that 50 megawatts of renewable energy be put on line in Wisconsin by the end of 2000. This amount of energy would be 40 times the power of these two turbines we are dedicating today.

According to RENEW Wisconsin, this puts Wisconsin on the very cutting edge of renewable energy policy in the country.

This is why getting the first two large turbines up and running efficiently is a key step towards meeting energy

needs of tomorrow.

These turbines are a true harbinger of a bright future for wind energy in Wisconsin.

Consider:

The Energy Bureau has conservatively estimated that the potential for wind energy in Wisconsin at 1000

megawatts or enough power to supply about 3 percent of all the electricity used in this state. Others have

predicted a potential of over 100 times more that.

For every 100 megawatts of wind energy coming on line in Wisconsin, about 185 million dollars of economics activity and 2700 job years of employment are created.

Wind energy creates no air, water or land pollution.

Using wind energy diversifies the generation mix and reduces the chances of reliability problems due to outages of large plants.

On the hottest days, the wind often is blowing very hard, thereby matching the electric demand from air conditioning with the supply from wind energy. Wind power can be compatible with rural settings as they fit in with corn fields and grazing land.

Wind energy is one of the most economic of all the renewable energy sources being considered. At good sites and by using the federal tax credit, wind energy can compete with any other new source of power.

That is why I am gratified that Wisconsin Electric has announced that they will put up two turbines similar to

these within the next year. And Madison Gas & Electric has announced that they will build an 11 megawatt wind farm, almost ten times as large as this site, next year.

There is a great demand for clean energy in Wisconsin. People have voiced their opinion about wind energy

and through green energy programs are now letting their wallets do the talking.

And utilities are listening as there are now green energy programs at Madison Gas & Electric and WisconsinElectric that support wind energy.

And let me mention someone who could not be here today, Dan Moran. Dan died all too early of a heart attack on Feb. 15 at the age of 44. Dan managed my renewable energy assistance program since its inception for the Wisconsin Department ofAdministration's Energy Bureau.

He created the Wisconsin renewable energy yellow pages which included a chapter on wind energy. The chapter listed 34 companies and individuals working in Wisconsin on wind energy projects. Dan knew all the wind energy people who worked in Wisconsin personally.

And he was a member of the Wisconsin wind energy task force representing the Wisconsin Department of Administration's Energy Bureau.

He wrote and managed the Wisconsin wind monitoring contract with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. That is especially fitting that he was a sailor since early childhood.

My condolences and best wishes go out to his widow, Pam, who is here today.

And that welcome breeze we feel right now is Dan's way of saying "hello."

Thank you.

And now, Pat, Pam, Mike and Sandi, let's make some electricity!