Ark. energy companies make case for climate bill

An industry group said Monday that alternative energy companies need Congress to pass the climate bill so they will be assured of a long-term market, one that will ultimately lower energy costs and employ 25,000 in Arkansas by 2020.

The bill, which is before the Senate, includes a cap-and-trade system that would require factories, refineries and power generation plants to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate-changing pollution. Companies would be able to purchase emission allowances to limit reductions.

Ralf Sigrist, president and chief executive of Nordex USA, which is building a $40 million windmill factory in Jonesboro, said Monday that wind energy companies won't replace other power generation sources already operating, but wind is an affordable option in the nation's energy portfolio.

"This is now a viable, competitive alternative," said Sigrist, whose company expects to employ 700 people within four years.

Sigrist spoke in a conference call set up by the group Arkansas Business Leaders for a Clean Energy Economy, which touted a study that concludes passage of the bill would boost the economy nationally and in Arkansas.

The climate bill has drawn a mixed response in Arkansas. Along with Nordex, the state has attracted several wind-energy companies, which are spending more than $300 million and pledge to employ nearly 2,000 workers. The companies include Denmark-based LM Glasfiber, which has two windmill blade plants in Little Rock, and Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas Inc., which announced this month it will build a wind turbine factory in Fort Smith.

South Arkansas is home to oil companies, including Murphy Oil Corp. and Lion Oil Co., both of which have stated their opposition to the climate bill. Lion Oil vice president Steve Cousins has said that, under the House version of the bill, Lion Oil's refinery would have to spend $180 million annually on carbon credits. The private company's profits over the past 23 years averaged $13 million per year, and Lion Oil couldn't survive if the bill were to pass without changes, he said.nordex usa

Other fuel producers support the bill, such as INEOS Bio, a bioethanol research and production facility in Fayetteville that employs 50 people.

The state's largest industry is agriculture, and corn and soybean growers reaped the benefits of high commodity prices as alternative fuel use surged when oil prices rose in 2008. Rice, the state's largest cash crop, could benefit from biomass development, which would use fiber from rice plants to make ethanol.

Eddy Moore, coordinator for Arkansas Business Leaders for a Clean Energy Economy, said it has been lobbying Arkansas' congressional delegation.

"We've asked for passage of comprehensive climate legislation now, or as soon as possible (to) create some certainty for business investment," Moore said.