An alliance including the King Ranch and environmental groups opposed to the construction of two wind farms in South Texas said it will fight a judge's rejection of its bid to intervene in a case before the Public Utility Commission. ... An administrative law judge ruled Friday that a public hearing was not an appropriate forum for review of the project. The judge said the group hadn't shown that its members would be affected, because the project won't cross their land. The coalition said it will appeal to the commission.

"We believe the current rush to wind energy development is bad public policy for Texas," said Josh Ladd, a member of the group's board of directors. "We hope to educate the public about the true costs of wind energy and bring regulation to an industry that has none in the state of Texas, as well as bring attention to the excessive tax incentives that the big oil and utility companies receive on a state and federal level."

While Texas' leaders are enthused about booming growth in wind generation, they're grappling with a big problem. The wind-rich lands of West Texas and the Panhandle are far from the state's biggest cities. And Texas' grid and its transmission lines are designed to push electricity out to rural areas, not the other way around. Soon, there will be lots more electricity produced from wind - but the state's transmission lines aren't yet ready to handle it.

Environmental groups have teamed with the King and Armstrong ranches to try to stop plans for two wind farms that they claim will kill birds and damage habitat along one of the world's major migratory flyways. The Coastal Habitat Alliance includes the American Bird Conservancy, the Coastal Bend Audubon Society, the Houston Audubon Society and the Lower Laguna Madre Foundation, a local group dedicated to protecting the bay and native habitat. "This is a pristine area that's a very fragile habitat that's right in the middle of one of the most active bird migration pathways in America," said Elyse Yates, an Austin attorney representing the group. "We think this is an inappropriate site for a major industrial wind project like this. We think the harm is irreparable."

Laurie Lasater finds himself these days in an exquisite dilemma. He reveres the right of property-owners to use their land as they see fit, yet he deplores the rush of ranchers to install huge wind turbines on vast rolling plains. "The concerns are twofold," said the third-generation rancher, whose grandfather introduced the Beefmaster breed to South Texas. "First are property rights. The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association stoutly defends private property rights, but wind farms not only affect the view, they also hurt land values. "Second is the true cost of energy produced. For both ethanol and wind energy, the true cost is approximately double the cost of energy from other sources."

Pickens, a Roberts County rancher and Dallas businessman, created Mesa Energy to build a 4,000-megawatt wind farm in northern Gray County and southern Roberts County. In addition to the wind farm, Mesa plans a 750-megawatt coal-fired plant to supply energy when the wind isn't blowing and a 600-megawatt natural gas-fired plant to handle peak loads......."I'm not having any turbines on my ranch," Pickens said candidly. "I think they're ugly is the reason I won't have any." But he said he has neighbors who've told him that they may be ugly to him, but the turbines look like money to his neighbors.

A variety of groups is discussing tax abatements in the northern Panhandle. Counties and other taxing entities are considering abatements for a handful of projects, several of which involve renewable energy. On Tuesday, the Palo Duro River Authority passed an abatement for Sunray Ethanol, which is planning a plant north of town, said Jim Derington, general manager of the authority. Other action included amending abatements for the North Texas Wind Center in Hansford County, a planned electric generation project previously granted an abatement as Great Plains Wind. The Palo Duro board also adjusted an agreement for a wind project by John Deere in Moore County and extended an agreement made earlier with a delayed fertilizer manufacturing plant in the S.B. Foot Tannery at Cactus.

Interest by California-based AES Wind Generation in establishing a large-scale wind energy operation in Gillespie County is being reconsidered, it was learned here Monday. According to a City of Fredericksburg official who asked not to be identified, a letter from a company officer stated that AES SeaWest Inc. of San Diego has decided to discontinue pursuing wind energy in an area north of Fredericksburg that generally stretches between U.S. Highway 87 and RM 965. Instead, the city official related, the company has decided to focus on other areas in Texas. Prompting the decision, he added, was AES' concerns that sensitive species and bat colonies living in the area could be incompatible with large-scale wind energy.

Donley County Commissioners approved a ten-year tax abatement agreement for a $90 million wind farm project on the Trew Ranch during their regular meeting Monday. Dale Cummings, a tax attorney who represents wind farm developer Iberdrola, said the agreement means good things for both parties. "I think it's a good deal for us and for the county," Cummings said. "Hopefully it opens the door to a lot of wind power developments in Donley County."

An expert panel will meet Thursday to discuss the technology and business of wind energy in Texas. The seminar, sponsored by the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech and Mullin, Hoard & Brown, L.L.P. will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday at the Museum of Texas Tech University, 3301 Fourth Street.

Wires to West Texas windmills, wires to a southeast Texas electric company, wires to connect north and south - wires everywhere. The state is in a headlong rush to extend its electric transmission system. But with an estimated cost of more than $10 billion - at least $500 for every man, woman and child served by the Texas power grid - some are raising questions about how much is too much. "It's excessive," said Geoffrey Gay, a lawyer who represents Fort Worth and other North Texas cities in utility matters. "We need additional transmission ... but $10 billion over the next few years is excessive by any stretch of reasoning. There needs to be a much more thoughtful analysis as to how much the consumer ought to bear."

TXU Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell said Friday they plan to build a massive wind farm in the Panhandle. The companies are not saying how much they will invest, who will own the wind farm and when, exactly, they might start building the project. They're also not saying who will supply the windmills. Here's what they've revealed: Shell WindEnergy Inc. and TXU's Luminant will develop the 3,000 megawatt wind farm in Briscoe County. That equates to about 1,000 wind turbines.

If all goes as planned, Jasper County commissioners will meet in public session in Houston next week with BP (British Petroleum) officials to discuss wind generation in Pecos County. Why Jasper is involved in energy production in far west Texas is a long story.

The state Public Utility Commission opened the way for a big boost in wind power production in Texas on Friday. The commission designated swaths of the state for the construction of new power lines that would carry wind-generated electricity to consumers. The decision serves as a pledge that the state will help build those lines, giving wind power developers the confidence to build turbines in far-flung, windy areas of Texas, according to Mike Aaron, a staff member with Virtus Energy, an Austin renewable energy consulting firm.

During the proceedings leading up to Friday's decision, developers expressed interest in constructing 24,511 megawatts of wind generation, primarily in West Texas. A megawatt of electricity can power about 250 average homes. "Although the three of us have exercised our best judgement on hundreds of contested cases in our time together, this one does have the feel of the extraordinary," Hudson told his fellow commissioners. "It is, frankly, an astonishing testament to the wind resources available in our state."

The $628 million contract that the panel quietly approved devotes a third of the city's energy purchases to wind-generated sources. White hopes the idea will give the city more stability in its roughly $150 million annual electricity budget, after costs rose recently with natural gas prices. The deal would make Houston a leader among governments nationwide for using wind sources to get power.

Hoping to stabilize a $150 million annual electricity bill, Houston officials have negotiated a contract to ensure that a third of the city's power is generated by wind. If approved, the contract would make Houston a leader among local governments across the country using renewable energy.

Texas is now the number one wind energy state in the country -- producing more power from wind than any other state. Now Texas is also the first to allow wind energy production off-shore -- energy which could not only power our homes and businesses, but also pay for the education of our children. In a small room filled with large maps, the future of Texas energy might be taking shape.

Randall County is inching toward granting tax abatements to a wind energy company. County commissioners approved a reinvestment zone Tuesday that will cover a portion of the southwest corner of Randall County. The reinvestment zone will now allow the county to begin negotiations on exactly what type of tax abatements Chermac Energy Corp. can receive for its 480-megawatt project.

Local groups hope to answer some of the questions blowing in the wind at an upcoming seminar. The wind energy conference will be Aug. 1 at the Amarillo Civic Center. "It's not understood by everybody, and we thought if we brought it all together, it would help people," said John Teague, vice president of business development and governmental affairs for the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce. "There are so many aspects, if you get into one, it leads to another."