Wind Industry News

South Texas Wind Farms back on Track

Friday, August 08, 2008

National Wind Watch

McALLEN — A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the developers of two wind farms in Kenedy County, clearing the way for them to complete the projects.

The Coastal Habitat Alliance - comprised of 11 organizations including King Ranch and several chapters of the Audubon Society - filed the lawsuit in December against General Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, wind developers PPM Energy and Babcock & Brown and the Public Utility Commission. The lawsuit alleges the developers and state officials violated state laws by building the farms with no environmental review or public comment.

Babcock & Brown and PPM are in the process of building their farms on about 20,000 acres of Kenedy Ranch near Sarita. The farms are expected to have more than 200 turbines producing enough electricity to power 90,000 homes in South Texas.

Read the full article here http://www.wind-watch.org/news/?p=16394.

AEP´s ETA Transmission venture forms joint venture with OGE

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

reprint from American Electric Power

Electric Transmission America (ETA), a joint venture of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) and MidAmerican Energy Holdings, has formed a joint venture company with OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE) to build and own new electric transmission assets in Oklahoma.

The joint venture, Horizon Transmission LLC, will build approximately 170 miles of extra-high voltage 765-kilovolt transmission from the Kansas-Oklahoma border north of Woodward, Okla., that will link into OGE’s station at Woodward and then extend west into the Oklahoma panhandle to a new station that will be built near Guymon, Okla.

Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) estimated cost for the project is approximately $500 million based on SPP’s Extra-High Voltage Overlay Study, but final costs will depend on the routing of the line, equipment and commodity costs. Anticipated completion would be in 2013. AEP’s ownership share of the joint venture will be 25 percent.

“This collaboration with Oklahoma Gas and Electric will build a segment of a larger extra-high voltage transmission highway that has been proposed by the Southwest Power Pool to enhance reliability and support development of the sizable renewable generation resources available in the region,” said Michael G. Morris, AEP chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Delivering power from the most viable regions for wind generation to large population centers requires a bigger, stronger transmission system. Long-term regional transmission planning as well as broad allocation of costs will allow the Southwest Power Pool, and the United States as a whole, to rely on more diverse generation resources in the future.”

Read full article here http://www.aep.com/newsroom/newsreleases/default.asp?dbcommand=DisplayRelease&ID=1475

Get Involved - Take Action!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Texas House of Representatives, District 123, San Antonio

Texas Rep. Mike Villarreal (San Antonio’s district 123) has an online petition available for individuals to speak up in support of bold CREZ transmission development.

http://www.leaderslisten.org/?p=119

Our understanding is that Rep. Villarreal intends to present the petition results to the PUC tomorrow in tandem with a letter in support of CREZ development.

Texas is the leading wind state in the U.S....

Friday, June 06, 2008

Excerpt from Texas State Energy Conservation Office

For centuries, people have harnessed the wind's energy to grind grains, pump water, run sawmills, propel boats and generate electricity for homes. Due to advanced technology, government incentives, high fuel prices and environmental concerns, wind energy is the world's fastest-growing energy source. The U.S. wind industry grew by 45 percent in 2007. We now have a utility-scale wind energy industry, which installed another 1,400 megawatts (MW) of new wind power capacity during the first quarter of 2008, and over half was built in Texas. Texas is the leading wind state in the U.S., accounting for 26 percent of the nation’s total installed wind capacity or the equivalent of the electricity needed to power more than one million Texas homes.

Texas holds the record for the world's largest wind farm, Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center. In addition, the Sweetwater, Texas, wind plant more than doubled in capacity to 585 megawatts, pushing it from fifth to second place in the size rankings, while the state's Buffalo Gap wind facility expanded to 353 megawatts, placing it in fifth place for size. The recently completed 364-megawatt Capricorn Ridge wind facility, also in Texas, landed in fourth place. The largest new Texas facility is the 209-MW Roscoe Wind Farm, located about 50 miles west of Abilene.

In Texas the demand for additional wind power has grown so rapidly that the Texas electric transmission grid has a critical need for expansion. In 2006, Texas Governor Rick Perry announced commitments of $10 billion from private companies to increase wind generating capacity in the state by 7,000 megawatts, contingent on the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) approving construction of additional transmission capacity to windy areas of the state.

Read the full article here http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/re_wind.htm

Vestas’ New Wind Energy R&D Facility Planned in Texas

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Press Release: Texas Sec of State

HOUSTON – This week, Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson joined Ditlev Engel, President and CEO of Vestas Wind Systems A/S, and Finn Strøm Madsen, President of Vestas Technology R&D, to announce a new wind energy partnership between the state of Texas and Vestas. Mayor Bill White and other prominent leaders of the Houston business community were also in attendance to welcome the team to Texas.

“Vestas’ entrance into the Lone Star State will pave the way for Texas to become even more competitive in our renewable energy pursuits,” said Wilson. “Through its partnership with a number of Texas’ leading universities, Vestas has shown a strong commitment to wind energy R&D and is setting the example for others to follow in the future.”

Vestas, based in Denmark, is the world’s largest supplier of wind turbines. The company first announced plans to establish a research center in the United States in November 2007, and this week revealed Houston as its selected location, furthering the state’s role as the nation’s leader in wind energy. The decision came as the result of a deliberate placement analysis carried out by Vestas Technology R&D in cooperation with the Greater Houston Partnership, the City of Houston and the State of Texas.

Read the full article here: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/about/newsreleases/2008/060308.shtml

Winds of Change

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Except from feature article by By Eileen Mattei, Texas Electric Cooperatives

Harlingen writer Eileen Mattei is a Nueces Electric Cooperative-Retail member.

Ten years ago, long before Texas became the nation’s largest producer of wind power with the largest wind farm, Big Spring real estate agent Kathy Lusk assisted a developer interested in finding wind power sites. Soon, Lusk became one of Texas’ first wind power scouts and started AKL Wind Energy Scouting.

“I learned on my own by going to wind sites and studying on the Internet. Scouting is not that far a stretch from what I did researching property ownership,” says Lusk, 49, a certified property manager who once managed a Big Spring mall.

Exploring likely wind farm areas, the West Texas native now drives thousands of miles a year in the region west of Interstate 35 between the Canadian and Mexican borders. Equipped with U.S. Geological Survey wind maps, Lusk and her 12 contractors scout potential sites usually at the request of a developer, although they sometimes prospect independently or at the landowners’ request. The ideal site is an uninhabited windy area with documented wind speed measurements that’s near roads and power transmission lines to population centers. Contractors also need owners interested in signing long-term leases.

“Wind power is a supplemental energy source that can prolong our finite resources,” Lusk says. A Master Gardener, a nature photographer and an advocate for native plants and wildlife habitat, she says that a love of nature drew her into the renewable energy field. Although Lusk became a wind power scout by chance, a passion and a preference for wind energy have kept her there and made her successful. “We can tell you pretty quickly whether a site will be profitable or not,” says Lusk, whose husband, Dan, now works with her. Basically, the farther wind-generated electricity must go to reach customers, the stronger the initial source must be.

The likelihood of a wind power scout showing up on your doorstep is growing as investment in wind energy increases in West Texas and the Panhandle. In 2008, Texas is scheduled to add more wind turbines than any other state. Lusk, who helps develop wind contracts, recommends becoming informed about what a wind power lease would mean for you and your property. Lusk agreed to answer general questions about wind energy leases for those lucky enough to have viable wind power property and those of us who at least would like to dream about it. Of course, if a lease becomes viable, one should always get legal advice about specific contracts.

Read the full article here: http://www.texas-ec.org/texascooppower/current_month/system/feature1.aspx

The (Texas) Energy Report 2008

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Press release from Texas State Comptroller Susan Combs

The Energy Report is a reference tool for anyone seeking to understand the current Texas energy environment. Texas remains at the forefront of the nation’s energy industry. The direction Texas takes in energy policy will help mark the path for the nation. Texas — and the rest of the world, for that matter — almost certainly will meet future energy demands using a wide variety of resources, and our state is well positioned to benefit from the increasing diversification of the nation’s energy portfolio.

Chapter 11: Wind Energy

Wind energy is among the world’s fastest-growing sources of energy. During the last decade, wind energy growth rates worldwide averaged about 30 percent annually. In the last three years, the U.S. and Texas wind energy markets also have experienced a rapid expansion of capacity. In 2007, for example, U.S. wind power capacity grew by 43 percent, while Texas’ rose by 57 percent.

This growth has been driven by a variety of factors including government subsidies and tax incentives, improved technology, higher fossil fuel prices and investor concerns about potential federal action to reduce carbon emissions, which could make electricity from fossil fuels more expensive.

Wind power is an abundant, widely distributed energy resource that has zero fuel cost, zero emissions and zero water use. Wind’s challenges are largely related to its variable nature — wind speed and direction can change by the season, day, hour and minute. For electricity grid operators the variability of wind — sometimes too much wind is blowing and at others too little — makes it difficult to integrate wind into a grid that was not designed for fluctuations. Moreover, surplus wind power cannot be stored, given current technology.

Read the full article here: http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/energy/

Wind turbine manufacturer may come to San Angelo

Thursday, May 01, 2008

By Paul A. Anthony, San Angelo Standard Times

The San Angelo Planning Commission approved a zone change today that could smooth the road for the city's first major wind-turbine manufacturing company.

The company, not yet named publicly, has been in negotiations for weeks with the City of San Angelo Development Corp., and the action by the commission today likely helps the city's position in attracting it.

Read the full article at source here:

Wind Turbine Manufacturer may come to San Angelo

Wind leases differ from mineral leases in significant ways.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

TAMU RE Center

Wind leases differ from mineral leases in significant ways. For example, signing bonuses are less for wind leases, terms are of different length, royalty payments are not protected by statute and surface rights are not automatic.

The state’s landscape is changing both physically and legally, especially in West Texas. Wind turbines appear on previously barren horizons, ushering in a new revenue source for landowners and new questions for attorneys.

Read both articles here:

TAMU Wind Article

King Ranch

TSTC First College In Texas With Wind Training & Certification Program

Friday, April 11, 2008

Mike Reeser, 325-235-7336, mike.reeser@tstc.edu.

Texas State Technical College West Texas has been awarded a $523,430 grant to develop an online version of its wind energy certification program. Dixon Bailey, vice president of TSTC's corporate college, said many qualified people have day jobs but would like to explore the wind industry.

Part of the grant money will provide scholarships for 15 students, paying all tuition and fees. The first course will begin March 3. According to TSTC West Texas officials, it is the first college in Texas to have a wind energy and turbine technology program approved by The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

TSTC is accepting applications for scholarships, which will be awarded to top candidates based on assessment scores in math, reading and writing. Candidates must have a high school diploma or GED.

Contact Mike Reeser, 325-235-7336, mike.reeser@tstc.edu.

Houston And San Antonio Join Austin On DOE Solar America Cities List

Friday, March 28, 2008

U.S. Dept of Energy

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today announced that DOE will make available up to $2.4 million to 12 cities across the country selected as Solar America Cities, chosen for their commitment and comprehensive approach to the deployment of solar technologies and the development of sustainable solar infrastructures. These projects further President Bush‘s Solar America Initiative (SAI), which aims to make electricity from solar photovoltaics cost-competitive with conventional electricity by 2015. Combined with industry cost share and funding from each city, total investment in all 12 cities is estimated at $12.1 million. Secretary Bodman made the announcement while delivering keynote remarks at the New Frontiers in Energy Summit 2008 in Denver.

Cities designated as Solar America Cities, which will each receive $200,000 from DOE to integrate a variety of solar energy technologies throughout the city, include: Denver, CO; Houston, TX; Knoxville, TN; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis & St. Paul, MN; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia, PA; Sacramento, CA; San Antonio, TX; San Jose, CA; Santa Rosa, CA; and Seattle, WA.

In addition to investing a total of up to $2.4 million (Fiscal Year 2008), DOE will also provide hands-on assistance from technical experts to help cities integrate solar technologies into energy planning, zoning and facilities; streamline local regulations and practices that affect solar adoption by residents and businesses; present solar financing options; and promote solar technology among residents and local businesses through outreach, curriculum development, and incentive programs. Technical assistance is estimated at $3 million (Fiscal Years 2008-2009), subject to appropriations from Congress.

Cities selected are geographically diverse and have varying degrees of solar resources and experience with solar technologies. Each city will adopt a variety of approaches to building up their solar infrastructure and deploying cutting-edge technologies, which include solar water heating, photovoltaics – a technology which turns sunlight into electricity, and concentrating solar power - and large-scale solar thermal technology.

The development of solar energy technology is integral to the President‘s Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), which seeks to change the way we power our homes, offices and vehicles by increasing the use of clean, renewable technologies. Awards announced today build upon the $5.4 million in financial and technical assistance awarded to the thirteen Solar America Cities selected in 2007, including: Ann Arbor, MI; Austin, TX; Berkeley, CA; Boston, MA; Madison, WI; New Orleans, LA; New York City, NY; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; and Tucson, AZ, bringing the total number of Solar America Cities to 25.

For better or worse, wind power loosely regulated

Monday, January 14, 2008

By Asher Price, AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

asherprice@statesman.com; 445-3643

If Texas' wealth over the last century came from oil, wind farm developers are banking that a chunk of the state's future prosperity will come from an above-ground resource.

The wide-open feel of the burgeoning industry, with windmills cropping up like wildflowers in the Panhandle, in West Texas, and along the Gulf Coast, harks back to the legal situation in the days of Spindletop.

"With wind law and the wind industry, what's happening legally is about the same place the oil industry was 100 years ago," said Ernest Smith, a University of Texas law professor who will teach a course in wind law this semester. "It's virtually unregulated. People realize there's great value to it, but there's no precedents in case law and very little statutory help."

But as windmills go in the ground, will regulation catch up?

Controversies over wind farms, especially those along the coast, have headed to the courthouse.

In Kenedy County, a motley crew of birders and the King Ranch are challenging two wind farms that they say will lead to the deaths of thousands of migratory birds.

Three cases filed in the past couple of years in Texas — one in Abilene and two in North Texas, where landowners organized the North Texas Wind Resistance Alliance — have tried unsuccessfully to stop wind farms on the grounds that they are loud or ugly or depress property values.

Wind law is "totally immature, and the problem is that major ecological impacts could occur," said Jim Blackburn, a lawyer for the Coastal Habitat Alliance, the group opposing the Kenedy County wind farms.

"Texas has an open door; there are no regulations that apply to wind energy companies," said Steven Thompson, a Houston lawyer who has represented rural landowners opposed to wind farms. In some cases, he said, rural areas have negotiated setbacks, space between the turbines and other landowners' properties. But litigation has been largely ineffective, he said.

Wind developers say the industry is a clean and safe one, with few of the hazards associated with other kinds of power generation.

The state has little oversight over the construction of wind farms. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state's power grid, determines whether a farm can hook up to the grid, said Dub Taylor, executive director of the State Energy Conservation Office.

In the most recent legislative session, a proposal by state Rep. Robert Puente, D-San Antonio, to set up a permitting process for wind farms failed to get out of the House Regulated Industries Committee.

Texas appears to be accelerating wind production. In July, the state's Public Utility Commission designated swaths of the state for the construction of power lines that would carry wind-generated electricity to consumers. The decision served as a pledge that the state would help build those lines, giving wind power developers the confidence to build turbines in far-flung areas.

Not to be outdone, the state's General Land Office has, on its Web site, promoted more than 26,000 acres of state land it oversees as prime wind farm sites.

Wind farms, like other alternative energy sources, have been broadly welcomed by environmental groups because they produce energy without emissions. And because there is an endless domestic supply of the resource and no need to mine the land, politicians have embraced wind power as an alternative to fossil fuels. Ranchers make money off royalties from wind farms on their land, much as they might with oil derricks.

Though most wind developers do environmental impact studies voluntarily and follow self-imposed industry standards, few state regulations exist, said Katharine Lusk, who owns AKL Windscouting, a Big Spring-based company that consults with landowners and developers to site wind farms.

She said more regulation will lead to fewer wind farms and "less electricity that's clean and renewable."

Theoretically, one wind farm could rob an adjacent farm of wind, said Mike Sloan, who leads Austin wind consulting company Virtus Energy.

"If you put something up in the air, it's going to impact air flow, whether it's a mountain, or a building, or a tree or a wind turbine," he said. "It's like sailboats that are racing: One of the boats will catch the wind that would otherwise go to the other boat's sail."

But practically speaking, he said, such a struggle over wind is unlikely because the farms would have to be very close together.

No jockeying between landowners has broken out yet in the West Texas town of McCamey, which calls itself the wind capital of Texas, Mayor Sherry Phillips said.

The Kenedy County projects, meanwhile, would amount to more than 600 windmills on about 60,000 acres. The farms may test federal migratory bird treaties and some parts of the law, including state nuisance laws, which can protect the rights of neighbors.

A wind turbine can stand taller than the Statue of Liberty, and its blades can go as fast as 220 mph. In August, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warned Babcock & Brown, one of the Kenedy wind farm developers, that "the area of proposed development may be an important landfall area in the migratory route for many birds, which ... include threatened and endangered species."

Babcock & Brown project manager Ward Marshall said, "It's impossible to build a wind farm anywhere in the U.S. without someone thinking it's a bad idea.

"The first thing opponents will grab on to is an environmental issue: With coal plants, they hang their hat on air quality; with nuclear plants, they worry about a Chernobyl meltdown; and with wind farms, it's a bird problem. That's our albatross."

Texas lands major wind turbine research lab

Monday, June 25, 2007

TEXAS GENERAL LAND OFFICE

Contact: Jim Suydam, (512) 463-5339

AUSTIN — The future of clean, renewable wind energy will be planned on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, today welcomed the announcement by U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman that Texas will be home to one of two large-scale wind turbine research and testing facilities. This facility will develop the next generation of wind turbine technology, which will produce more kilowatts per turbine.

“This is the birth of a new industry here in Texas,” Patterson said. “Once we build these test facilities, the wind turbine and blade manufacturers will come. I think there will be plenty of business for both Texas and Massachusetts to come out winners.” Patterson praised President Bush’s renewable energy initiatives announced Monday.

“President Bush is a Texan who understands the energy business,” Patterson said. “The president knows our nation needs oil, gas and coal. But we also need to diversify our portfolio to include renewable energy sources such as wind power.”

The site for the Texas large-scale wind turbine and blade testing facility will be just north of Corpus Christi, at Ingleside-on-the-Bay. BP, which has a history of developing cutting edge technologies and is an acknowledged leader in the development of alternative energy, generously donated 22 acres of land for the effort. BP also donated $250,000 toward funding the facility.

“BP has a major stake in helping the U.S. deliver clean energy from a secure and sustainable resource,” said Bob Lukefahr, president of BP Power Americas. “We firmly believe that locating this facility in Texas will enable the wind industry to move at the pace this nation now demands. Texas has long been recognized as the leading state for the offshore energy industry. By locating the facility in Texas, we will benefit from the ability to leverage the skills and knowledge available from the offshore industry.”

The Texas bid for the test facility was handled by the Lone Star Wind Alliance, a Texas-led coalition of universities, government agencies and corporate partners created to prepare the proposal for submission to the federal government.

The Lone Star Wind Alliance includes the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, West Texas A&M University, the Houston Advanced Research Center, Stanford University, Montana State University, New Mexico State University, Old Dominion University, the Texas General Land Office, the State Energy Conservation Office, the Texas Workforce Commission, Governor Rick Perry, Dow Chemical Company, Huntsman and Good Company Associates.

“We are very excited about this opportunity and it is an important step in the leadership of Texas in wind energy,” said Ray Flumerfelt, Dean of the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston. “It will result in Texas having unique world-leading research and test capabilities for large turbine blades and other wind energy system components.”

The facility will be built through an innovative public-private partnership, organized through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. Private wind turbine and blade manufacturers are expected to fully fund the operations of the facility within five years of its construction.

The Texas Legislature played a crucial role in securing the facility, pledging $5 million toward its construction. State Sen. Judith Zaffirini carried the $5 million request, and Gov. Perry signed off on it in the final budget. Another $5 million is pending final approval through the state’s Emerging Technology Fund. Texas’ representatives in Congress were also very supportive, with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison championing the effort.

Patterson has likened the potential impact of the test facility to that of NASA in Houston during the space race in the 1960s.

In May of 2006, the Department of Energy announced it is seeking partners to build a new facility capable of testing blades up to a minimum of 70 meters long. In addition to Texas, the states of Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio and Virginia submitted applications for the test facility.

Panhandle Wind Power Could Help Light the Rest of Texas

Monday, August 14, 2006

Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608,skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu

Contact: State Rep. David Swinford, (512) 463-0470

(photo by Kay Ledbetter)

State Rep. David Swinford said he has a powerful proposal that could prove profitable for one area and shed some light in others.

Wind machines are gaining attention as a renewable energy source because they don't use water or oil, Swinford said. He was guest speaker at the North Plains Research Field 2006 Ag Day near Etter, hosted by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Texas Cooperative Extension.

A major problem hindering use of Texas' wind power is lack of transmission lines, he said.

The Texas Panhandle, served by the Southwest Power Pool, has the highest wind factors for the state, but the lowest population, he said. The rest of Texas, served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, has the people, but not enough electricity for projected needs.

Transmission lines between Southwest Power Pool and ERCOT, as it is commonly called, cannot exist, because they are set up on two different grids, Swinford said.

But that doesn't mean power generated by Panhandle winds can't be used in the Dallas metroplex or Austin and San Antonio homes, he said.

In Carson and Moore counties in the center of the Panhandle, the wind factor is 44, Swinford said. The wind factor is determined by the percentage of time the wind is expected to be able to make electricity. The state average wind factor is 35.

"All of our wind is in the 42 to 44 percent range," he said. "The area near Perryton could generate 11,000 megawatts per hour if they had transmission lines. The White Deer farm is the No. 1 wind energy place in the state.

"We have more wind capacity in the Panhandle than they have in the rest of the state put together," Swinford said.

So why aren't there more wind machines churning out the power?

For supply reasons, a power company doesn't want more than 12 percent of the power being generated by wind, Swinford said. While it seems the wind blows constantly, it doesn't, so coal or natural gas is needed for stability of supply.

Xcel Energy, the power company serving the Texas Panhandle, is the No. 1 power company using wind in the nation, Swinford said. When all the planned wind farms are built in the Xcel service area, it will have reached its maximum 12 percent for the transmission lines here.

"So we have to get some way to hook our wind to a line out of the Panhandle, because we're done," he said. "We don't have the people to justify more production up here."

His proposal is to build transmission lines from the ERCOT region near Vernon to the Panhandle and then back south to near Big Spring.

This would allow many different parts of the Panhandle to build wind farms and tie into the transmission lines. That power could be sent to different parts of downstate Texas, Swinford said.

Building the transmission network would cost of about $1 billion, which would have to be paid for by ERCOT customers, he said. A company such as American Electric Power could build the transmission line and then amortize it over the next 40 years.

"But because wind has no fuel costs or power costs, it cheapens the overall electricity to the customer," Swinford said.

He explained that ERCOT customers may see a $2 or $3 per month reduction in their bills, even though they have to pay for the transmission line, because the electricity is cheaper. ERCOTs' natural gas fuel cost used to generate electricity was $4.5 billion in 1999 and has risen to $12 billion in 2005.

"Transmission costs last for a lifetime and don't reoccur, while gas costs are burned up every year," Swinford said.

A study of statewide electricity needs through 2015 indicate 38,000 megawatts of additional electricity will be needed, he said.

"Some of that can come from wind energy."

And benefits can be found on both ends, Swinford said. For landowners, a profitable wind farm can net $50,000 to $60,000 per section per year. It requires no use of valuable water and has no added fuel costs.

If the wind energy industry was allowed to develop to its full potential in the Panhandle, he said, estimates put its economic impact at $14 billion over a 10-year period.

"We have to remember increasing transmission lines may be difficult," Swinford said, "but increasing fuel costs are automatic."