China Enters U.S. Wind Market, Drawing Criticism

While the U.S. is one of the largest producers of wind power in the world, wind currently meets only 2% of the country's electricity demand, according to Tom Zeller and Keith Bradsher. The industry has effectively stalled due to the economic crisis, but advocates hope the introduction of lower-priced turbines from China will restart growth. Chinese-manufactured turbines sell for $600,000 a megawatt versus $800,000 for Western models.

However, critics are particularly skeptical of Chinese companies, Zeller and Bradsher say. Although international manufacturers already play a role in U.S. wind, Chinese companies pose a unique threat to U.S. manufacturers because of the backing they receive from the country's government, the authors write:

"After G.E., the current market leaders in this country are Vestas of Denmark, Siemens of Germany, Mitsubishi of Japan and Suzlon of India. None of the governments of those countries, though, are suspected of unfairly favoring their home industries and discriminating against foreign competitors on anything approaching China's scale."