Sweetwater may not be the wind-energy capital for long. Pickens is in the process of building what could be the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle. "We're going to build a 4,000-megawatt farm in Pampa, and we've already bought the turbines for the first 1,000 megawatts, and we'll start construction in the summer of 2010," Pickens said. "We've put together all the land for it. The landowners are ready; we're ready." Pickens landed at Avenger Field at 2:21 p.m. with a crowd of about 50 gathered to see the man with an estimated net worth of $3 billion.

A spokesman for FPL Energy says a recent report by a local TV station saying all the turbine blades at Horse Hollow Wind Farm are being replaced is inaccurate. "We are not replacing turbine blades at Horse Hollow," said Steven Stengel. "Let me emphasize 'not.'" Instead, a "routine" repair will be made on the lightning receptors on 95 of the 421 turbines on the farm southwest of Abilene, Stengel said.

A 155-turbine wind farm in Livingston County likely will be recommended when the Livingston County Zoning Board of Appeals reconvenes Monday. Iberdrola Renewables has proposed the Streator-Cayuga Ridge South Wind Farm, which would be spread across 15,000 acres in between Odell and Emington. Hearings that stretched over weeks ended Thursday with Iberdrola's closing arguments and a review of possible special conditions to be attached to the project recommendation.

Texas has moved closer to drawing the final map for transmission lines to carry wind energy to the state's largest cities. ...The next step is a final hearing and a decision by the Public Utilities Commission of Texas on where to put transmission lines to connect West Texas wind farms with consumers in the rest of the state. ...Shell expressed disappointment with what it perceived as the PUC's timid attitude displayed at an earlier hearing. The PUC could no doubt hear the sound of wind, but it was "air being sucked from the room as the ERCOT and PUC staff witness panel left many gathered for the proceedings feeling deflated," according to Shell's brief.

Wind is always available and it doesn't pollute the planet. But as wonderful as it sounds, using the resource for energy could come with a hefty price tag. ...But there's a big problem. The Texas Public Utility Commission [PUC] hasn't approved a way to funnel all the power from the wind farms in West Texas and eventually the panhandle, into the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Ross points out, "The only impediment we have right now is the construction of transmission lines. We've got to construct the wires to move the power back to Dallas/Fort Worth." According to the PUC, that could cost at least $1 million per mile to get the power into the local area.

The Highland Independent School District learned earlier this month that it is a property wealthy district after being notified of its status by the Texas Education Agency. In TEA terms, Highland is a Chapter 41 district for the 2008-09 school year. Chapter 41 of the Texas Education Code makes provisions for certain school districts to share their local tax revenue with other school districts. ... The Highland ISD has been declared a Chapter 41 district because of significant increases in property values due to the new wind farms in the district. Nelson said those wind farm values will peak in the 2008-09 school year and then decline due to tax code Chapter 313 property tax limitation agreements ...

A regional conservation group is pointing out where birds and wind farms might not mix. A Playa Lakes Joint Venture mapping project shows the few remaining acres of habitat for the lesser prairie chicken and where playa lakes can draw large numbers of migrating birds. "There has been a lot of interest from the wind industry, local and state conservation groups and state agencies," said Megan McLachlan, a geographic-information system analyst for the group. "We've gotten a lot of phone calls the last couple of months asking us to share the data. There's a lot of people working on the issue."

A river. A park. A projected destination near downtown Dallas. The Trinity River project is expected to be a beauty. But winding along it could be something tall, environmentally green and what some consider intrusive. Discussion has started at city hall about lining a two-mile section of the Trinity toll road with wind turbines - 80 of them, all 80 feet tall. The Dallas City Council, as of this week, is studying whether to add wind turbines.

Texas should meet its growing electricity demand by encouraging more power plants fueled by coal and nuclear power, maximizing use of the state's vast wind resources and reducing dependence on expensive natural gas, according to recommendations by a task force appointed by Gov. Rick Perry. The report was issued Thursday by the Competitiveness Council, consisting of more than two dozen business, consumer and government representatives. It made 36 energy-related recommendations aimed at achieving "long-term sustained economic success." A public hearing on its conclusions is scheduled for Monday in Austin.

With the Panhandle targeted for increased wind power development, many landowners already have signed or are considering signing contracts with energy companies. But questions remain, especially about wildlife. ...The Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Taylor and Nolan counties was the single largest wind farm in operation in the nation in 2007, Cearley said. With four of the five largest U.S. wind farms now located in Texas, it is necessary to study the impact on wildlife.

By year's end, developers expect to have about 250 huge wind turbines in place on Kenedy Ranch north of Raymondville, generating enough electricity to power approximately 90,000 homes. And more could be on the way. ...In May, the alliance filed a court petition seeking to stop the development. The federal judge who heard the case has not yet made a decision. The groups say that the ranch is on a major migratory pathway for birds, and they believe that tall, fast-spinning turbines on that pathway could lead to trouble. "We think there's a very high likelihood of catastrophic bird kills," said Elyse Yates, spokeswoman for the alliance.

Construction is well under way on two wind farms that, in the first phase, would cover about 20,000 acres of the historic ranch, the developers - Australia-based Babcock & Brown and Portland, Ore.-based Iberdrola Renewables, formerly PPM Energy - confirmed late last year. Still, environmental groups and the King Ranch haven't given up the fight to stop them. ...The Coastal Habitat Alliance is dogged in its efforts to stop the projects because the groups say they want more studies to be done, and for the public to have a say - even though the farms are on privately owned land. In its lawsuit, the alliance says the project should be subject to federal coastal-management rules, which call for environmental reviews of any electricity-generating plants.

Members of the Texas Public Utility Commission are struggling to decide how much new transmission should be built to take advantage of the state's abundant wind resource. Major power lines are needed to transfer wind generation from sparsely populated West Texas to Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, where electric demand is highest. Commissioners are weighing the benefits and costs of four transmission-route scenarios proposed by the Texas electric grid operator to accommodate from about 12,000 MW to as much as 25,000 MW over the next four years. ...Attorneys for residential and industrial customers urged the panel to look hard at promised cost benefits versus rising costs to build power lines. Transmission costs are paid by customers in areas with the most electric demand.

[Gary] Key said as a community where newcomers flock to the countryside in search of escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life, they need to look toward the future. "After 38 years in real estate, I can say we have to think about what Erath County has to offer. We have to think about the future and quality housing," Key said. "Those moving from more populated metropolitan areas looking for an escape and quality housing will likely not want that in the shadows of the turbines. Let's not hurt our property values" ...Key said transforming the face of Erath to an industrial county, moving away from the rural/residential image people are escaping to, would likely be detrimental to future development and possibly do more harm than good in the long run. "In 20 or 30 years, we would be looking more like an industrial park," Key said. "No longer the community we once were."

A federal court judge said Tuesday he needs time to sort through a complicated legal challenge brought by the King Ranch and several environmental groups that want to stop a massive wind farm near the South Texas Gulf Coast. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel will have to decide if a mid-1990s federal Coastal Zone Management Act requires the state to conduct public hearings before a wind farm can be approved - if it affects private property and if the environmental groups have a right to sue. ...Lawyers for the wind farm developers said wind farms are not like electric utilities, which are subject to regulation.

Colorado has lost out on a bid for a Vestas Wind Systems research center. Vestas, which opened a major blade-manufacturing plant earlier this year in Windsor, announced Monday it will locate the research facility in Houston. Colorado was the other finalist, according to Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

Thousands of wind turbines in the US are sitting idle or failing to meet their full generating capacity because of a shortage of power lines able to transmit their electricity to the rest of the grid. The issue of transmission capacity will be high up the agenda as 10,000 wind power industry executives descend this week on Houston, Texas, where the shortage of power lines is hampering the state's alternative energy plans. ... A proposal for $6.4bn of new power lines linking new wind farms with the state's public electricity grid, whose cost will be borne mainly by consumers, is proving politically controversial. Wind farm developers are examining building their own private lines.

Wind power in Texas was mostly a curiosity in 2000 when the state first opened its wholesale electric markets to competition. About 300 turbines were spinning away in rural West Texas, creating a mere 200 megawatts of power. Today the state has 5,300 megawatts on line, 25 times more than in 2000 and enough power to light more than 1.5 million homes. ...With another 44,000 megawatts in wind projects on the drawing board, the forecast is for continued growth for years. But challenges, both economic and environmental, may be looming.

State regulators welcomed wind farms into Texas' unfettered wholesale power market through a special process to designate the best wind-power production zones and to accelerate construction of power lines -- costing from $3 billion to $6 billion -- needed to link those remote areas to more populated areas of the state. However, problems that surfaced in the Texas wholesale market as wind's influence reached a critical level this spring should be a warning for the rest of the nation, said Lawrence Makovich, vice president and senior power adviser at Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "Wind is not a direct substitute for conventional power supply," said Makovich. ...Wind is attractive if added in moderation, Makovich said. "It has a desirable environmental profile, but you want to incorporate a smart amount of wind," he said. "If you add too much, you may impose too much additional cost."

It was a bold statement Tuesday in Gray County when oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens announced that Pampa would be the wind energy capital of the world. That was shortly followed by another statement. The billionaire said, when he's going to do something, it gets done. Pickens was talking about his $10.4 billion wind farm set to sprawl across 200,000 Panhandle counties.