About JEDI
The Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) models are user-friendly screening tools that estimate the economic impacts of constructing and operating power plants, fuel production facilities, and other projects at the local (usually state) level. JEDI results are intended to be estimates, not precise predictions.
Based on user-entered project-specific data or default inputs (derived from industry norms), JEDI estimates the number of jobs and economic impacts to a local area that can reasonably be supported by a power plant, fuel production facility, or other project. For example, JEDI estimates the number of in-state construction jobs from a new wind farm.
Jobs, earnings, and output are distributed across three categories:
- Project Development and Onsite Labor Impacts
- Local Revenue and Supply Chain Impacts
- Induced Impacts
JEDI model defaults are based on interviews with industry experts and project developers. Economic multipliers contained within the model are derived from Minnesota IMPLAN Group's IMPLAN accounting software and state data files.
Who uses JEDI?
JEDI models are used by county and state decision-makers, public utility commissions, potential project owners, developers, and others interested in analyzing the economic impacts associated with new or existing power plants, fuel production facilities, or other projects.
JEDI's user-friendly design allows novices to easily analyze jobs and economic impacts from construction and operation of energy-related production facilities. Advanced users can incorporate project- and location-specific data to further tailor model inputs, perform sensitivity analyses, and refine conclusions from model output.
How the Models Work
The JEDI models run in Excel. All JEDI models apply the same basic user interface. Users download the appropriate JEDI model and then enter basic information about a project, including the state, location, year of construction, and facility size. The model then estimates the project costs (i.e., specific expenditures), and the economic impacts in terms of jobs, earnings (i.e., wages and salary), and output (i.e., value of production) resulting from the project. To the extent a user has and can incorporate project-specific data as well as the share of spending expected to occur locally, the results are more likely to better reflect the actual impacts from the specific project.
Project Data Inputs
The project-specific data include a bill of goods (costs associated with actual construction of the facility, roads, etc., as well as equipment costs, other services, and fees required), annual operating and maintenance costs, the portion of expenditures to be spent locally, financing terms, and local tax rates. While JEDI provides reasonable default values for each of the inputs and all of those necessary for the analysis, the user has the option to adjust project specific data for the following categories of inputs:
- Construction Costs
- Equipment Costs
- Annual Operating and Maintenance Costs
- Financing Parameters
- Other Costs
In the event project specific data is not available, the default values may be used to represent average costs and spending patterns derived from a number of sources (project-specific data contained in reports, industry surveys, and studies).
To conduct a more specific analysis, users are encouraged to incorporate project-specific values in place of the default values. No project will follow the exact default pattern for expenditures. Project size, location, financing arrangements, and numerous site-specific factors influence the construction and operating costs. Similarly, the availability of local resources, including labor and materials, and locally manufactured power plant components can have a significant effect on the costs and the economic impacts that accrue to the state or local region.
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