Have you got a question about wind energy development? PERFECT, we've been wondering what questions you might have!
We're in the process of collecting questions so that we can provide a frequently asked questions list to those curious about wind energy development. Most of our members and potential members are landowners so the majority of the questions on the list will most likely reflect that fact, but we are willing to entertain any questions you may have. Are you curious about transmission expansion, royalties paid to landowners, who are the major players in wind development, what kind of due diligence has to be done before development, or something else? Our goal with this list is to cover all the bases of wind energy development and we'll use feedback to narrow the list down to those things that seems to be weighing most heavily on peoples' minds.
The second part of this task will be answering these questions. And once we get the list of questions together we'll be asking for your help to do that to. We are hoping to be as all inclusive as possible with these answers and would love to get your feedback on the questions list that we develop. So if you've been working in the wind industry and have some knowledge you would like to share, please check back for the FAQ list post and leave your input as a comment.
For the time being, please post your questions as a comment. We appreciate your help!
Until next time...
- Find out what I'm doing, Follow Me :)
PR - Wind Expo Draws A Crowd
Here is our latest press release about last week's expo. Feel free to pass it on, put it in your publication or print a copy and carry it around in your pocket! :)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Caprock Plains Wind Energy Association
Kelly Ayers, Executive Director
(806) 983-2793
Kelly.j.ayers@gmail.com
FLOYDADA, Texas, March 9, 2010– It was tough to find a parking space at the Unity Center in Floyd County on Thursday March 4th. The parking lot was at full capacity, packed with wind industry professionals who had booths at the event and others hoping to learn more about the industry and its future in the Texas panhandle.
The wind energy expo hosted by Caprock Plains Wind Energy Association brought in a crowd of nearly 300 people from across the South Plains. Attendees came to meet with developers, transmission companies, consultants and manufacturers as well as educational and advocacy groups working in wind energy.
“The event was well attended and a testament to the optimism of wind energy development in West Texas,” said the Floydada Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Justin Jaworski. “Floydada EDC is currently working to help develop a proper incentive program for wind farms and looks forward to assisting this process in the near future.”
Local companies in the Texas Panhandle such as Turbines Over Texas and Alternative Energy Specialties were hoping to use CPWEA’s wind energy expo to promote their products and services.
Randy Craig is an associate professor of biology at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, but three years ago he began building a residential wind turbine with other local residents. Craig and the Turbines Over Texas crew had the turbine that they are currently manufacturing on display at the expo.
“Through much trial and error we feel that we have achieved a small-wind residential, rural turbine that will allow more people to assist with rising electrical costs and reduce their carbon foot-print on the Earth,” Craig said. “The expo was an opportunity for our small manufacturing company to increase the awareness of our wind turbine company and its presence in Hale County, Texas.”
Alternative Energy Specialties located in Abernathy, Texas also had an exhibit at the event. Their exhibit featured a patent pending meteorological tower (often times referred to as a met tower) that they manufacture locally.
“Our Tall-Tilt™ 60 thru 80 meter met towers are patent pending technology and were designed and engineered by a local team here in the Lubbock area in 2009,” said Glenn Van Slyke, a member of the Alternative Energy Specialties team. “It was beneficial to be in the same venue with the companies that use our products since what we provide is in place, and many times gone, long before power is generated by a turbine.”
Hill Country Wind Power is one of the developers that local representatives like Van Slyke were happy to see at the event. HCWP develops small to mid-sized wind farms. They are a non-traditional wind farm developer as they focus on selling retail electricity from their projects to large end-users like co-ops, school districts and hospitals.
John McNair, director of land acquisitions at HCWP, said their focus was to take care of the landowner first. He noted that selling electricity at retail benefits landowners, investors and local communities.
“At the expo I met primarily with landowners in areas we are targeting, some who represented target areas as far as two and a half hours from the expo location,” McNair said. “That speaks volumes about what CPWEA is doing, facilitating the introduction of developers to landowners in the windiest areas of Texas.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Caprock Plains Wind Energy Association
Kelly Ayers, Executive Director
(806) 983-2793
Kelly.j.ayers@gmail.com
Wind Expo Draws a Crowd
FLOYDADA, Texas, March 9, 2010– It was tough to find a parking space at the Unity Center in Floyd County on Thursday March 4th. The parking lot was at full capacity, packed with wind industry professionals who had booths at the event and others hoping to learn more about the industry and its future in the Texas panhandle.
The wind energy expo hosted by Caprock Plains Wind Energy Association brought in a crowd of nearly 300 people from across the South Plains. Attendees came to meet with developers, transmission companies, consultants and manufacturers as well as educational and advocacy groups working in wind energy.
“The event was well attended and a testament to the optimism of wind energy development in West Texas,” said the Floydada Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Justin Jaworski. “Floydada EDC is currently working to help develop a proper incentive program for wind farms and looks forward to assisting this process in the near future.”
Local companies in the Texas Panhandle such as Turbines Over Texas and Alternative Energy Specialties were hoping to use CPWEA’s wind energy expo to promote their products and services.
Randy Craig is an associate professor of biology at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, but three years ago he began building a residential wind turbine with other local residents. Craig and the Turbines Over Texas crew had the turbine that they are currently manufacturing on display at the expo.
“Through much trial and error we feel that we have achieved a small-wind residential, rural turbine that will allow more people to assist with rising electrical costs and reduce their carbon foot-print on the Earth,” Craig said. “The expo was an opportunity for our small manufacturing company to increase the awareness of our wind turbine company and its presence in Hale County, Texas.”
Alternative Energy Specialties located in Abernathy, Texas also had an exhibit at the event. Their exhibit featured a patent pending meteorological tower (often times referred to as a met tower) that they manufacture locally.
“Our Tall-Tilt™ 60 thru 80 meter met towers are patent pending technology and were designed and engineered by a local team here in the Lubbock area in 2009,” said Glenn Van Slyke, a member of the Alternative Energy Specialties team. “It was beneficial to be in the same venue with the companies that use our products since what we provide is in place, and many times gone, long before power is generated by a turbine.”
Hill Country Wind Power is one of the developers that local representatives like Van Slyke were happy to see at the event. HCWP develops small to mid-sized wind farms. They are a non-traditional wind farm developer as they focus on selling retail electricity from their projects to large end-users like co-ops, school districts and hospitals.
John McNair, director of land acquisitions at HCWP, said their focus was to take care of the landowner first. He noted that selling electricity at retail benefits landowners, investors and local communities.
“At the expo I met primarily with landowners in areas we are targeting, some who represented target areas as far as two and a half hours from the expo location,” McNair said. “That speaks volumes about what CPWEA is doing, facilitating the introduction of developers to landowners in the windiest areas of Texas.”
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Expo Aftermath
I'm going to take a quick break from working on a post-expo press release and share a couple pictures from the event last week. If for some reason you just can't wait to read some details about how the expo went you can check out this article that was posted on the Lubbock AJ's Web site the day after the event:
Wind Energy Expo shows local residents new profit opportunity
You can also check out a video about the event made by Justin Jaworski, executive director at the Floydada EDC: Floyd County Wind Expo. I am going to go ahead and ask that you excuse me for all the umms and other blunders as I talk in the video; I hope it doesn't scare you away from our blog for good! :) Thanks again Justin for the video.
Now for the pictures...
Wind Energy Expo shows local residents new profit opportunity
You can also check out a video about the event made by Justin Jaworski, executive director at the Floydada EDC: Floyd County Wind Expo. I am going to go ahead and ask that you excuse me for all the umms and other blunders as I talk in the video; I hope it doesn't scare you away from our blog for good! :) Thanks again Justin for the video.
Now for the pictures...
People from all over the South Plains came out for the event. This was the sign in table early on in the evening. People started pouring in even before the designated 5pm start time, but it was just fine, the exhibitors were ready to roll.
Tri Global Energy, out of Lubbock, Texas, was one of the 30 exhibitors at the event. Here are a couple of their representatives talking to attendees about their company. Their booth stayed busy all night and it wasn't just because of the candy bowls!
Two of the most visual displays were Alternative Energy Specialties' meteorological tower and Turbines of Texas' small residential turbine. Both groups are local, out of Hale County Texas and we were more than happy to have them represented at the event.
The Unity Center in Muncy got quite busy as the expo got going. We had just around 300 attendees show up at the event! Check out this shot of all those great, great West Texas people!
Here Cameron Fredkin, with Cross Texas Transmission, talks with attendees about the transmission lines that they have been chosen to build in the area as a part of the CREZ transmission build out.
Two of the most visual displays were Alternative Energy Specialties' meteorological tower and Turbines of Texas' small residential turbine. Both groups are local, out of Hale County Texas and we were more than happy to have them represented at the event.
The Unity Center in Muncy got quite busy as the expo got going. We had just around 300 attendees show up at the event! Check out this shot of all those great, great West Texas people!
Thank you to everyone that came out and made the event a success. A very special thank you to all the exhibitors, the CPWEA board of directors, Jon LaBaume at the Unity Center, Justin Jaworski at the Floydada EDC and everyone else who helped make this event possible.
Be looking for a press release about the event soon! Until next time...
Be looking for a press release about the event soon! Until next time...
Lubbock AJ Write-up
The Lubbock Avalanche Journal posted this on their Web site yesterday. Looking forward to seeing more about our upcoming expo in the Wednesday AJ!
Floyd County hosts first Wind Energy Expo
Monday, March 01, 2010
The recent snow and rain may help area producers save money on irrigation, but there is another natural source of income they could cash in on.
The Caprock Plains Wind Energy Association will host its first Wind Energy Expo to educate the public on the long-term benefits of wind energy in the South Plains.
The main benefactors of investing in wind energy in the region, but may not realize it, are landowners, said Justin Jaworski, executive director of the Floydada Economic Development Corporation.
“It’s a good way (for producers) to have supplemental income,” he said. “A way for them to be able to farm their land as they always have and make smart decisions about leasing out land to developers.”
Landowners, who lease their land to developers for wind turbines or transmission lines, will not use the energy generated on their land. Instead, they will generate money from the metropolitan areas that the energy is exported to and bring more money and business to West Texas, Jaworski said.
He said many people have already agreed to lease some of their land for wind energy development, and the expo will serve to further educate and prepare those individuals for future decisions.
Kelly Ayers, executive director for CPWEA, said this was the non-profit organization’s first big event that will bring wind energy developers and experts together with South Plains landowners.
Attendees will be able to meet energy developers, consultants, manufacturers and educators from Oklahoma, Amarillo, Big Spring, Sweetwater and Plainview.
While the majority of the CPWEA members live in Hale, Floyd and Motley counties, Ayers said the event is free and open to anyone interested in learning about or investing in wind energy.
By having the expo, Jaworski said members of the public can speak directly with the companies and get all of their questions answered.
“The more people, the more networking and connections, the faster things will happen,” he said.
Read more in Wednesday's Avalanche-Journal.
I found it here: http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/030110/upd_569390548.shtml
I hope to see you all at the expo on Thursday!
