People have been using the energy of the wind for hundreds of years. Starting with windmills in Europe, the technology spread around the
world. For decades, windmills were common sights throughout the American Midwest and West, used for agricultural purposes such as grinding grain and water pumping. Now, efficient, modern wind turbines generate electricity less expensively than the cost of some conventional fossil fuels.
CRES VICTORY FOR WIND POWER
On February 23, 2001, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) made an historic decision, concluding that a wind powered electric plant should be added Xcel Energy's portfolio of new generation to meet growing electricity demand. The power plant, rated at 162 megawatts (MW) will be built in southeast Colorado near Lamar. It will be the largest wind power plant in the Rocky Mountains, and the first to be included in a utility's "rate base" or its standard portfolio of power generation.
The PUC decision was unanimous. All three commissioners followed the recommendations made by its staff and two groups that pressed the case before the commission in January 2001 hearings - CRES and the
Western Resource Advocates, based in Boulder.
Favorable testimony about wind costs from the PUC Staff helped influence the commissioners decision. The staff found that overall costs for Xcel consumers would be lower with wind than with all-natural gas generation.
Ron Lehr, Former PUC Chairman and CRES Attorney, said "The Colorado PUC decision will benefit all Coloradans." CRES' Ron Larson has maintained for the last four years that wind power's environmental benefits, rural development opportunities, and contribution to diversity in power supply make it a reasonable part of utility generation portfolios. With high and uncertain gas prices, wind power can help keep electricity prices down. With no fuel costs for wind, the cost for power does not fluctuate like it does for natural gas; all costs are well defined at the beginning of the project. And a key environmental benefit of wind power is no emissions. CRES' witness on gas prices, former CRES Board Member Steve Andrews, said "In the last six months, the rise in natural gas prices made our intervention with the PUC easier because wind is now lower cost than natural gas. This Commission ruling will help to keep prices down for both electricity and natural gas."
UTILITY SCALE GENERATION
Wind power is now the world's fastest growing energy generation source; new wind farms serving many parts of the US are being located on farm or ranch land far from settled areas, providing steady lease income to the landowners - and most significantly, increased economic opportunity for depressed regions of the country. Colorado's open prairie and mountains offer a significant wind resource, and our state is a prime location for wind energy development. Currently, Colorado has two on-line utility size wind farms generating 60MW
and 162MW. Xcel Energy's Windsource program, which offers consumers the choice of paying a modest premium for clean energy, is the most successful program of its type in the US.
http://www.xcelenergy.com
RESIDENTIAL SIZE WIND TURBINES
Small scale residential and medium scale "cooperative" wind facilities offer rural residents, farmers and agricultural processing facilities predictable power costs, making their business enterprises more stable and profitable. Wind turbines are often combined with photovoltaics to create hybrid systems, for when the sun disappears due to an approaching storm, the wind begins to blow. Wind turbines could be used to power biomass / biofuel conversion plants, creating a perpetual cycle of renewable energy generation.
MORE INFORMATION ON WIND POWER
American Wind Energy Association
http://www.awea.org
NREL's National Wind Technology Center:
http://www.nrel.gov/wind
US DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN)
http://eren.doe.gov/wind/web.html
Wind Powering America
http://eren.doe.gov/windpoweringamerica
Wind Powering America is a commitment to dramatically increase the use of wind energy in the United States. This initiative will establish new sources of income for American farmers, Native Americans, and other rural landowners, and meet the growing demand for clean sources of electricity.
Through this program, the United States will achieve targeted regional economic development, protect the local environment, reduce air pollution, lessen the risks of global climate change, and increase energy security.
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