If a proposed transition line from Woodward to Guymon runs through Mead Ferguson's north Woodward County land, he thinks that is just fine.

"I own land next to the Cooper place and I am not at all opposed to wind energy," Ferguson said. "I think it is going to come and I think it is terribly important that we build the transmission now while we can so we can transport that energy. It is a good thing for Oklahoma."

Mead was among 60 to 70 people who attended the first of four open houses offered by Oklahoma Gas and Electric. The meeting was held at the Josie Adams Cultural Center and was intended to act as an open exchange between the public and company executive with regard to a planned transmission line construction project that could impact land owners here.

The company lent nearly 25 OG&E experts on land lease agreements and electricity to the event to be available for each landowner who had questions.

The event was a casual, "come and go" event that allowed those who attended to talk to anyone whom they wished to talk with about their questions as well as peruse county maps bearing the marks of two proposed routes for the lines from Oklahoma City to Woodward.

The next open house is slated for Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Canton Community Center.

The transmission lines have been planned by the company to address an historic lack of transmission needed to carry the additional electricity that is produced by wind turbines here, to the main substation for balancing of power, said OG&E spokesman Brian Alford.

The needed transmission would involve a line from Piedmont all the way to Woodward and from Woodward to Guymon.

That is why the company has initiated the open houses, to allow the public access to all the plans and to also allow those land owners with land that could be impacted, a chance to discuss concerns," Alford said.

"We did a similar set of these meetings with a line that we built north of Red Rock and into Kansas," Alford said. "The people seem to really appreciate the chance to have input and be a part of this process."

By and large, the mood of the land owners who might have been impacted was fairly positive Wednesday night and, while many are in a discovery mode with many questions still, their attitudes appeared to follow Mead's demeanor.

Dale and Debra Cook are land owners south of Beaver in Beaver County. They came Wednesday night to discover how probable it is that the transmission lines will, indeed be built, since they are among hundreds of land owners in that region who are being courted by companies preparing to let land contracts for wind turbine location.

"We are having a whole lot of wind energy companies come to us to talk about our land and we don't want to contract if they build the turbines but then can never transmit the electricity," Debra Cook said.

Tisha Gaeden and her husband Daniel Breckenridge are owners of four quarters of land in the southeastern portion of Woodward County.

The two came to see the proposed line that is slated to run from Piedmont to Woodward.

"Part of that line runs through the tiniest corner of our property," Gaeden said.

The two said they are interested and enthusiastic about the idea of wind energy, but are still in a learning mode regarding the collective impact to the area.

"Tonight's meeting gave us the information we needed on the transmission lines," Breckenridge said. "But satisfaction falls short on the rest of the information such as how many and where will the needed substations be located and also, where might the other wind farms be located? We want to know these things before our land becomes a part of this."

According to Brian Alford, plans for the lines are tentative and subject to change as information becomes available.

He also stated the types of lines being used are not the traditional large steel lattice type towers, but instead will be on single poles. "That way, they are less intrusive," Alford said.