A few weeks ago, I told you that the Chinese had marched into the Lone Star State with $1.5 billion for a 600+ megawatt wind farm.

Then, a few days later, I told you that Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wanted the Obama administration to reject an expected request for stimulus funding for this particular wind project because it could end up generating Chinese jobs - not U.S. jobs. According to the Senator, if approved, the funds would be used to buy turbines and other components made in a Chinese plant.

Well, yesterday we found out that the turbine manufacturer for this project, A-Power Energy Systems, is now going to build a turbine production facility in the U.S.

Expected to employ about 1,000 U.S. workers, the new plant will produce more than 1,000 megawatts per year.

I realize there will still be some folks upset over the fact that a U.S. turbine manufacturer is not being used for this project. But if the Chinese are willing to come here and do something we could've started doing years ago - so be it.

That being said, it should also be noted that according to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, companies that have supplied turbines to funded farms had U.S. plants and the farms are in the U.S. - thereby creating local installation jobs and tax revenue. He also cited an industry statistic that indicated 53% of the value of turbine parts installed under the stimulus program were American-made.

Jeff