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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 14, 2005
CONTACT: Patricia Van Gerpen, phone (605) 773-3201

Regional Wind Conference in South Dakota draws 260

More than 260 attended the Regional Wind Conference at the Swiftel Center in Brookings, S.D. Sept. 11-13, hosted by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and the United States Department of Energy.

A total of 31 expert representing various wind energy organizations presented research and their perspectives to attendees.

South Dakota PUC Commissioner Dusty Johnson - who chaired the event - dubbed the conference a success. "We had 12 states represented as well as as Washington, D.C.," Johnson said. "Attendees hailed from Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Illinois, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and South Dakota. We're finding that the interest in wind energy in the state as well as in the entire region has grown tremendously."

U.S. DOE Wind Powering America National Coordinator Phil Dougherty addressed the crowd at the Sept. 12 luncheon. Dougherty told the audience how the energy challenges our country faced in the 70s are similar to those we're facing now, 30 years later. One of the biggest challenges is getting the wind power produced to the marketplace.

Xcel Energy CEO Dick Kelly gave an update on his company's wind energy development at the Sept. 13 luncheon.

Those who were unable to attend can listen via archived Web casts and view PowerPoint presentations from the conference at puc.sd.gov. 

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