Hot Topics

There were several articles in North American Windpower's recent publication that I felt were worth noting. If you don't already have a subscription you can sign up for one on their Web site. While you can find updates and headlines on the site their print edition offers more in-depth, comprehension stories concerning a wide range of issues in the wind industry.

If you have been following news from the wind industry you probably know about the topics that have been getting a lot of attention, but in NA Windpower's recent publication they give a good overview of what's been going on. I wanted to pass along some of the points they made concerning the CREZ process and a National RES.

CREZ

Mark Del Franco noted in his article, "As CREZ Work Begins, Developers Head East" that some developers are looking at places other than West Texas and the Texas Panhandle while they are waiting for transmission to be built. And what does that mean for us here in the panhandle? To me it means that we just have to be patient. The wind is good here, we have wide open spaces and developers have a lot less to worry about when planning and developing a wind farm. As Del Franco points out in the article, areas where developers have recently starting focusing (the Texas coast for example) are more populated and have more environmental issues to consider.

The CREZ plans will add something around 3000 miles of transmission lines and bump up transmission capacity to 18,456 MW. A direct quote in the article from Paul Sadler, executive director of the Wind Coalition, made it quite clear that the CREZ process will have quite an impact on wind development in Texas basically saying that wind will be able to contribute double what it does today. According to Del Franco's article, wind currently represents 8% of electric capacity in the state.

Another topic discussed in the article wasn't directly related to CREZ, but has the potential to affect whether developers choose to develop in Texas over other wind rich states. The article highlighted the importance of the extension of the Texas Economic Development Act (AKA Chapter 313 of the state tax code) which allows tax abatements to be used to bring in economic development projects like wind farms. This helps bring developers to Texas.

These are just a couple of the items discussed in the article. In my opinion, it looks like while we have recently seen a slow down of development in our area we should be looking at a very different situation in the near future. The biggest issues right now is making sure that developers remain aware of the fact that we want wind in our area. It's a lot easier to deal with landowners who welcome wind development than to try to plan a project amidst opposition. The CREZ is the first step in bringing wind development where it makes the most sense for it to be.

RES

Another recent hot topic is the National renewable electricity standard (RES). Most of those directly involved in the wind industry would like to see legislation put in place that would require 25% of the nation's energy come from renewables by 2025. That original number has been cut down as the legislative process have moved along.

Greg Williams wrote an all encompassing piece in the recent NA Windpower print publication. He points out two main reasons why a national RES is favored: one being the three things that come as a result of renewable energy development (clean energy, jobs, and energy independence) and second that a national RES helps secure the future of renewable energy use in our nation. This security will help the renewables industry to continue to grow.

In his article Williams also notes two reasons why RES legislation is opposed. One, because some believe that the same results will be achieved with carbon reduction policies and two, because the legislation is unfair to those areas that have do not have abundant renewable resources.

In my opinion, the watering down of the national RES only seems to be a delay of the inevitable. I think that most would agree that as a nation we need to be relying on energy that is one, generated right here on our own soil and two that helps minimize negative effects on our environment. A strong national RES would kick things into gear and as far as I can see the sooner we do this the better.

You can check out what's going on with the RES legislation and take action at www.powerofwind.com