South Dakota’s new governor is making an active pitch regarding economic opportunities for the state. The renewable-energy sector says it continues to build a strong case, including manufacturing jobs. Governor Larry Rhoden spent much of March crisscrossing South Dakota on his “Open for Opportunity” tour to hear about promising development, workforce needs and trade issues. It hasn’t received a visit yet, but officials with the Marmen Energy plant in Brandon say they’re keeping busy.
Nearly 300 people there construct towers that hold turbines for wind energy. Plant manager Dan Lueders says this is the very definition of “American-made” products.
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:10 “It’s fully American made with American steel, so we’re contributing to the American independence on energy and also providing good-paying manufacturing jobs.”
The Clean Grid Alliance says this plant produces roughly one thousand tower sections each year for shipment throughout the upper Midwest. Lueders says with data centers and other factors driving up electricity demand, he sees more opportunities for his operation. Nationally, enthusiasm has been somewhat dampened by the Trump administration’s push to roll back renewable-energy funding, with a stated desire to focus more on fossil fuels.
But utilities are increasingly turning to renewables to diversify their output as demand spikes. Waylon Brown of the Clean Grid Alliance says if South Dakota keeps the welcome mat out for wind and solar development, that means other industries will want to set up shop here.
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:06 “They’re looking for nearby energy generation when deciding what states to do business in.”
In addition to the manufacturing upside, the Energy Information Administration says South Dakota ranks second nationally for wind-energy generation. Brown says, for example, having a healthy power supply could be attractive to the health-care sector, noting advancement in medical technology is one of the many other things that require more energy use.