December 09, 2009 07:36 PM UTC

Rumors of New Energy Economy's Death Appear Exaggerated

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• by: Colorado Pols

You’ve probably read in the last couple of days that Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has announced a slowdown in production, including a “furlough” of their Windsor facility’s 500 or so employees due to slowing orders.

In today’s Denver Post, there’s a story that reads kind of badly for Governor Bill Ritter, who has touted Vestas’ significant investment in the state as evidence his “New Energy Economy” focus is paying dividends. According to the Post’s Mark Jaffe, state and local governments will still be paying Vestas promised incentives during this upcoming “furlough”–what a boondoggle, right?

Not so fast, reports the Greeley Tribune:

Something may be getting lost in translation.

A spokesman for Vestas Wind Systems in Denmark said Tuesday morning that the company plans to keep Windsor employees at its first U.S. blade manufacturing plant busy during this traditional slow time. It’s not quite a true “furlough” – reported throughout the media Tuesday – that usually means a temporary layoff until the work comes back.

Vestas officials announced to employees last week that the slow time was ahead and production of blades will stop sometime in the first quarter. Vestas America officials on Monday confirmed reports that the company planned to “furlough” its 500 employees in Windsor, Vestas’ two-year-old blade manufacturing plant.

The term confused Windsor plant employees, as well as Peter Kruse, senior vice president for group communications for Vestas in Copenhagen.

“I don’t know what furlough means, but I can tell you the following: We’re slowing down and temporarily closing down the facility in Colorado. We’ll use our time not to produce blades but to retool, retrain and help our service guys. … We’re trying to do whatever we can to keep people busy. We’re retooling, retraining and introducing new ways” of doing things.

“I cannot rule out that some (employees) every now and then will have an extended weekend.”

Employees at the Windsor plant, speaking anonymously, said the company always has been forthright and upfront with them about company news. They were told last week that production would stop in February, but there would be other jobs for them to do. If it came down to having to send employees home, the company would continue to pay them…

Gosh, that doesn’t sound nearly as bad, does it? The employees will still be earning their paychecks instead of becoming temporary layoffs as the Post would have you believe, ready to ramp production back up when demand resumes (as surely it will). Seems like Vestas is doing everything it can for its employees in hard times, presenting themselves as a fine corporation to, well, incentivize. Would have been nice for the Denver Post to have made one more phone call.

We’ll update when we get Dick Wadhams’ press release, which you know is coming regardless.