...wind power has attracted an impressive array of critics. Scientists question wind power's efficiency as a consistent power source. Number crunchers point out that without subsidies, wind power is a prohibitive energy source. Biologists, birders, and hunters cite the deadly effect of these huge turbines on migrating and permanent populations of birds and bats as well as the destruction of crucial habitat in order to service the elaborate infrastructure. The technology is so new, and the pressure to create clean energy so intense, there has been little regulatory oversight of the industry nationally, and organizations traditionally thought to oppose such habitat degeneration, such as the Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society, have voiced their support for wind energy.

"The significant amount of wind in western Oklahoma is a largely untapped resource that is in increasing demand in Oklahoma and across the nation," Delaney said in a statement. "We have been working on plans for some time now to significantly increase OG&E's wind power production over the next four years." ...Greene said concerns raised in other states about the aesthetics of the giant wind turbines or the environmental impact on migratory birds are minimal in western Oklahoma, where communities with vast expanses of land are desperate for economic development. "It's interesting that there hasn't been a lot of negatives about wind in Oklahoma"...

OGE Energy Corp is prepared to build a new high-voltage transmission line to accelerate development of wind generation in Oklahoma, the utility company chief executive said on Tuesday. Oklahoma City-based OG&E Electric Services said new transmission is needed to unlock the potential for power to flow from future wind farms in the western part of the state to populated cities in the east. Chief Executive Officer Pete Delaney said OG&E, Oklahoma's largest electric utility, plans to significantly increase its wind production from 170 megawatts to 770 MW over the next five years to meet increased customer demand for renewable power.

"It has almost become like a gold rush," said Sherry Kunka, Xcel Energy project director. "We have a long waiting list of developers seeking transmission access." ...The future of wind development depends on transmission lines that need to be built to take the power where it is needed because local needs are filled. One transmission plan would be just for wind energy headed for the rest of Texas. Another would take it to the grid that serves the eastern U.S. When Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Roderic Bremby denied an air permit for two large coal generators near Dodge City, Kan., on Oct. 18, he may have put up a roadblock for sending power east, said Bob Bryant, president and general manager of Golden Spread Electric Cooperative.

Howard County commissioners approved a trio of reinvestment zones necessary to grant tax abatements Monday morning, moving forward with negotiations with several wind energy developers that could lead to an estimated 400 to 500 new turbines being erected in the county. Commissioners met with Terry Wegman, executive director for Moore Development, who is serving as a liaison between the wind energy developers and local taxing entities for the purpose of establishing reinvestment zones, and ultimately, negotiating tax abatements for several proposed projects. The court approved reinvestment zones A, B and C, following a public hearing that drew comments from only a single property owner. ..."Even the smaller developments - the smallest one is 36 megawatts - will be putting up quite a few turbines. I think we're looking at between 400 and 500 turbines at this point, but that's nothing more than a rough estimate."

About 70 wind towers will soon be constructed here, an investment of about $300 million, a wind manager for one of the companies that plans to build a wind farm in Ector County said. Mannti Cummins, of American Shoreline Inc. in Corpus Christi, said the company has filed an application fee with trustees of Ector County Independent School District for a wind farm on the J.B. Whatley Ranch in Ector and Andrews counties. ...Another company, Invenergy LLC in Chicago, has leased land on Sonny Henderson's ranch south and east of Notrees and plans to develop a wind farm there, Henderson said. Meanwhile, County Judge Susan Redford said she's been contacted by two other wind farm companies that also have plans to develop wind farms near Odessa. "There's a lot more interest in wind energy here than I was aware of," Redford said.

"Unfortunately, electric power generated from wind energy is intermittent and variable. That means we need to have better measurements of wind power plants' output as we integrate wind energy into existing power systems. We also need to develop a way of managing wind power so it can be more readily called upon when needed."

County leaders are working with state legislators to change the way wind farms are regulated in Texas. Robert Weatherford is the president of Save Our Scenic Hill Country, a group of land owners working to keep wind farms out of the area. "You will literally be able to see them for miles. So we do think that it would destroy the scenic beauty of the Texas hill country," Weatherford said. ...Gillespie County is worried that would mean less visitors like Jones. "That's why people come to these places, is to see the view," Jones said.

A divided Public Utility Commission shut the door Wednesday on conservationists' efforts to air concerns about the effect of planned Gulf Coast wind farms on migratory birds. ...Chairman Paul Hudson dissented, saying it would be in the public's interest for the commission to hear about the environmental impact and that denying the intervention would prevent the PUC from ever looking at the alliance's argument.

Alliance members said they had hoped to obtain intervenor status so they could request an environmental study be conducted, assessing the wind farms’ possible impact on migrating birds and habitat. The alliance earlier this week announced the preliminary results of an assessment it commissioned, which suggested the wind farms could prove harmful to migrating birds. ...“By refusing the participation of experts who have come to the table to offer their experience and assistance, the PUC is denying itself and our state the benefit of their knowledge and insight,” said Jim Blackburn, an Austin attorney and the alliance’s founder, in a statement.

A truck driver transporting the midsection of a huge wind energy turbine lost his load on the I-37 frontage road near Rand Morgan. It happened around 3:30 Tuesday afternoon. Police say the driver was supposed to be following a state ordered route, but that he got off track and tried to make a sharp turn.

King Ranch is one of 11 regional and state organizations, including the Lower Laguna Madre Foundation, Frontera Audubon Society and American Bird Conservancy, that have united in their opposition to two proposed wind farms in Kenedy County scheduled to be up and running by late 2008. Known as the Coastal Habitat Alliance, these groups differ in their support of wind energy - Delaney, for example, says it doesn't provide sufficient power to replace fossil fuels; other groups say they're champions of "green" energy. But they agree on one thing: the Kenedy property is the wrong place to put turbines. ...A recent helicopter flight over the proposed wind-farm sites revealed a chain of wetland ponds, with flocks of shorebirds stopping to drink and rest. Other than a few roads and quail runs for hunting, the land looks close to untouched. "It's hard to think (the farms) wouldn't have some impact on these species," Newstead said.

A Louisiana company was awarded leases to four tracts Tuesday in Texas' first open bidding for offshore wind power in the Gulf of Mexico. Wind Energy Systems Technology, already developing a wind farm eight miles off of Galveston, was the only bidder for the tracts. ...Though it's not clear why more companies didn't bid on the offshore tracts, it may be that many are busy with wind power projects on land in Texas, said Christine Real de Azua, spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas has agreed to consider at its Oct. 17 meeting whether a coalition of conservation organizations can fight two wind farms proposed for the Texas Coast. ...An administrative law judge has already denied the alliance status to protest the project. The alliance asked the PUC to overturn that ruling, which the PUC has now agreed to consider.

The Coastal Habitat Alliance - a coalition of eleven Texas-based and national organizations working to preserve the Texas Gulf Coast - today expressed satisfaction that the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas has agreed to hear their appeal regarding the group's intervenor status in the AEP 345 kV transmission line case to be held on October 17 in Austin.

The group, represented by Billy Teague, asked the commissioners for a resolution affirming that the commissioners would not offer any incentive, tax abatement or any modifications to county roads to accommodate wind farm companies. "Environmentally, wind farms do not belong in the Hill Country," Teague said. "While I understand the good it can do for some people, it is devastating to the neighbors and the rest of the county."

Some at Thursday's meeting stressed that it is important for members to express their concerns to their elected leaders at the federal level since it is the federal tax abatements that make the wind turbines profitable for the alternative energy companies. The abatements last for 10 years after which the companies reportedly may abandon the turbines, leaving landowners with an eyesore of a turbine in disrepair or with the major expense of having a 300-400-foot tower and 500 yards of cement in the ground removed. "They are not stand-alone profitable," one person said, continuing, "These are not profitable projects. They are government paid for and then left easily."

U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, representing Young County and part of Archer County, is seeking the feasibility study as wind energy development moves forward in Texas. "The basic point behind this is let's look at it from every single angle to make sure that we're doing this right and there aren't any mistakes," Neugebauer spokesman Michael Frohlich said.

The Texas General Land Office's ambitions for wind power could land an offshore site near South Padre Island.

An alliance of business and environmental groups expects to appeal a judge's ruling against letting the group intervene in the construction of two wind farms in Kenedy County. ...Among the coalition's arguments is that 60,000 acres would be irreparably harmed from the infrastructure needed to build and support the turbines, Yates said. Estimates at sites around the country show that 20,000 to 37,000 birds die annually to collisions with wind turbines.