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Vestas eyeing acreage in Brighton

Wind energy firm might add 650 jobs in expansion

James Patonand John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 24, 2008 at 9:05 p.m.

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Rocco Albore, a Vestas factory manager, examines a blade at the firm's grand opening ceremony in March in Windsor.

Photo by Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

Rocco Albore, a Vestas factory manager, examines a blade at the firm's grand opening ceremony in March in Windsor.

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Danish wind energy company Vestas has tentatively agreed to buy more than 100 acres in Brighton in an expansion that could mean 650 new jobs and possibly hundreds more, officials said.

"One, these would be high-paying jobs," Brighton City Councilman Rob Farina said Thursday. "Two, these would be green jobs, and that's what Colorado is all about. That's the governor's big push."

Gov. Bill Ritter has said he hopes to make Colorado a renewable-energy hub and has hailed Vestas as a key newcomer. The company recently opened its first U.S. wind-blade manufacturing plant in Windsor. That facility is expected to employ 650 people.

In Brighton, Vestas has indicated an interest in paying roughly $3 million to purchase the property two miles north of the city's downtown, according to Ken Parks, spokesman for the Brighton Economic Development Council. The Brighton City Council this week adopted a resolution supporting the sale.

But Parks stressed that a deal is not definite. "There's an agreement in place to sell the land, if Vestas wants to buy it," he said.

Several calls and e-mails to Vestas were not returned Thursday afternoon.

The Daily Post in Brighton on Wednesday quoted city officials as saying groundbreaking would start by Sept. 1, and the deal could add as many as 1,500 jobs.

RTD also was approached by a "potential buyer" offering to buy 65 acres in the area, and its board authorized General Manager Cal Marsella to negotiate a sale, said RTD spokesman Scott Reed.

He said RTD has yet to close a deal and refused to name the company.

Vestas was expected to expand further in Windsor, but those plans changed when the company and the owner of the land failed to reach an agreement.

Alex Yeros, of the Great Western Industrial Park and Great Western Railroad in Windsor, said Vestas wouldn't guarantee it would use the rail line. Instead, Vestas plans to use large trucks to haul the blades, which Yeros said would cause traffic problems in the surrounding communities.

patonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2544