It's going to be very quiet at the Windustry office through Labor Day, but only because we're all over at the Minnesota State Fair.

We'll be presenting the third year of the Wind Energy Center at the EcoExperience, and we hope you'll come out to see us!

At the Wind Energy Center, you can:

• Try out different careers in the wind energy industry.
• Climb inside a replica turbine tower section and see a video of what it's like to be inside a real wind turbine.
• Get your wind energy questions answered by an expert.
• Pick up a wind energy bookmark to take home.
• Experiment with blade design and participate in other fun activities in the Renewable Energy Kid's Corral.
• Look at and learn about home- and farm-scale wind turbines.

Activities in the Renewable Energy Kid's Corral will be held daily at 9:30 am, 11:00 am, 12:30 pm, 2:00 pm, 3:30 pm, and 5:00 pm.

Our new game show, "Who Wants to be a Wind Energy Expert?", will be presented:

• Thursday, August 21 at 9:30 am
• Wednesday, August 27 at 5:00 pm
• Sunday, August 31 at 5:00 pm
• Monday, September 1 at 7:00 pm

Click here to learn more about the 2008 Wind Energy Center!

A special thank you goes out to all of our 2008 partners!

See you at the fair!

Windustry has a variety of connections to the many organizations that encourage the growth and expansion of community wind energy development. Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA is one such institution. Their announcement of a new educational program which we thought might be of interest to many visitors to our website follows.

The United States Department of Agriculture ("USDA") is seeking comments from the public on its proposed strategic goals and planning priorities for climate change research, education and outreach programs.

Grant Applications are now being received for the Great Lakes Tall
Tower Wind Monitoring project. The project is funded through the U.S.
Department of Energy.

The program's scope of work requires the State of Wisconsin to use the DOE funds to award a total of two grants for:

We Energies is offering Renewable Energy Feasibility Study Grants to its business and not-for-profit electric customers, as well as to organizations teamed with We Energies business and non-profit electric customers. This program helps to cover the costs of studying the feasibility of installing a renewable electricity generation project at a customer’s facility. Funds also can be used to conduct research on a renewable energy product or technology, or to help demonstrate or commercially advance a renewable energy product or technology into the marketplace.

For more information, please visit www.we-energies.com/RE
Applications are on a rolling basis, but will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis

Confused by the rhetoric on all sides of the current debate over whether or not to renew the federal renewable energy Production Tax Credit? Would you like to be able to address the issue in an informed and persuasive manner?

In May 2008, the wind energy credit (§ 476B) was significantly modified by S.F. 2405, retroactively effective for entire 2008 tax year. The IUB has issued proposed rules for implementing the changes related to eligibility and tax credit applications (Docket No. RMU-08-04).

The passage of the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007 by the Minnesota State Legislature and Tim Pawlenty requires a study of the potential for dispersed renewable generation statewide. The study consists of two parts, Phase I and Phase II, which focus on installing a total of 1200MW of new dispersed renewable energy projects with a minimal impact on the transmission grid.