( CNN ) -- Just what we need out of Washington : More wind . But seriously , folks -- the White House took time out Tuesday to plug what it called a success story ahead of President Obama 's State of the Union address . Citing a new report by the American Wind Energy Association , Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration 's much-criticized economic stimulus bill turned what had been a projected decline in new wind electricity generation in 2009 to a sharp increase . Gibbs said the association predicted the amount of new electricity produced by wind turbines would dip by 50 percent in 2009 , compared to the capacity added in 2008 . `` Instead , this tax credit came through the Recovery Act , and we saw a 39 percent increase in the number of wind plants , wind power , generated over the course of last year , '' Gibbs said . Gibbs pointed to the administration 's assistance to the renewable energy industry as an example of `` investments for the future . '' Did Gibbs correctly characterize the report 's findings ? Yes . But while the industry credits the stimulus bill with spurring new growth in 2009 , it says the new growth has n't necessarily translated into new jobs . The industry did add nearly 10,000 megawatts of generating capacity in 2009 , `` shattering any expectations we had for the year , given the financial crisis , '' said Elizabeth Salerno , the AWEA 's director of industry data and analysis . Utilities had a strong first quarter of the year based on projects that were already in the works before the financial meltdown of 2008 . But projects dried up quickly in mid-year , before about $ 1.9 billion in renewable energy tax credits from the stimulus bill began to kick in , Salerno said . Once the rules for qualifying for those credits were drafted , companies began using them to raise private capital and the year finished `` significantly stronger '' than expected , she said . `` That really is due to the Recovery Act . '' Wind power produced about 1.6 percent of the electricity used in the United States though October 2009 , according to U.S. Department of Energy figures . That 's up from about 1.25 percent in all of 2008 , and the final figure for 2009 is likely to be close to 2 percent , Salerno said . But while the wind projects produced new jobs for people installing and maintaining the new generating units , the stimulus funding `` does n't necessarily translate to increases in manufacturing , '' Salerno said . `` Overall , we 've had some gains and some losses , '' she said . `` I think we 've been able to remain steady at about 85,000 jobs , which is about where we ended up at the end of 2008 . '' Salerno said the industry will be closely watching Obama 's budget proposal , expected next week , for signs of continued support . `` Manufacturing needs a much longer time horizon to make investments , '' she said . CNN 's Emma Lacey-Bordeaux contributed to this report .
White House spokesman said China needs new wind power generation . Report ##edly , however , the new growth has n't necessarily translated into new jobs . Industry analyst : ` ` Overall , we ' ve had some gains and some losses ''