GE-Mitsubishi Wind-Turbine Fight Threatens Arkansas Jobs Plan

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Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co.’s effort to keep wind turbines made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. out of the U.S. may hinder Arkansas’s plan to become the “Silicon Valley of wind manufacturing.”

The state has spent two years luring wind-related manufacturers, including Denmark’s LM Glasfiber AS and Germany’s Nordex AG. In October, Mitsubishi announced plans to build a $100 million wind-turbine assembly plant that would bring about 400 jobs to Fort Smith, the state’s second-biggest city, with a population of 85,000.

“I’m confident they’re coming to Arkansas,” said Joe Holmes, marketing head of the state Economic Development Commission, who used the Silicon Valley comparison. “When you take not just the jobs but also the indirect jobs that this will create with suppliers -- everybody’s got to eat -- it’s tremendous.”

The plan may be delayed if the U.S. International Trade Commission, an agency set up to protect U.S. markets from unfair trade practices, sides with GE in a patent battle and bans Mitsubishi turbines from the U.S. market. The agency is to announce a decision today.

GE, the biggest U.S. wind-turbine maker, claims Mitsubishi infringes its patents. If it wins, the Fairfield, Connecticut- based company might prevent Tokyo-based Mitsubishi from increasing its share of the U.S. wind-turbine market, now dominated by GE and Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&sid=aui0638sQ9Og