It's understandable that wind power companies are confused about Wyoming's attitude toward wind energy development. In a period of less than two years, the state has gone from offering a tax incentive aimed at spurring construction of wind farms to eliminating that incentive and restricting where turbines can be built. The sudden shift in sentiment has come in reaction to a significant increase in the number of wind farms planned in Wyoming ...Quite frankly, the state has been caught unprepared to deal with the wind energy boom.
It's understandable that wind power companies are confused about Wyoming's attitude toward wind energy development. In a period of less than two years, the state has gone from offering a tax incentive aimed at spurring construction of wind farms to eliminating that incentive and restricting where turbines can be built. The sudden shift in sentiment has come in reaction to a significant increase in the number of wind farms planned in Wyoming ...Quite frankly, the state has been caught unprepared to deal with the wind energy boom.
It's understandable that wind power companies are confused about Wyoming's attitude toward wind energy development.
In a period of less than two years, the state has gone from offering a tax incentive aimed at spurring construction of wind farms to eliminating that incentive and restricting where turbines can be built.
The sudden shift in sentiment has come in reaction to a significant increase in the number of wind farms planned in Wyoming, the windiest state in the nation without a shoreline.
Quite frankly, the state has been caught unprepared to deal with the wind energy boom.
In response to the issues that have arisen as a result of it, Gov. Dave Freudenthal's office and the University of Wyoming are hosting the first Wyoming …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]It's understandable that wind power companies are confused about Wyoming's attitude toward wind energy development.
In a period of less than two years, the state has gone from offering a tax incentive aimed at spurring construction of wind farms to eliminating that incentive and restricting where turbines can be built.
The sudden shift in sentiment has come in reaction to a significant increase in the number of wind farms planned in Wyoming, the windiest state in the nation without a shoreline.
Quite frankly, the state has been caught unprepared to deal with the wind energy boom.
In response to the issues that have arisen as a result of it, Gov. Dave Freudenthal's office and the University of Wyoming are hosting the first Wyoming Wind Symposium today and Friday in Laramie.
Here are some of the issues the symposium is likely to address:
* What's in it for Wyoming? The governor is scheduled to kick off the event with a speech by that title.
Some have questioned the value of wind development in Wyoming, pointing out that the only significant public revenue from turbines comes from local property taxes and that the vast majority of jobs created are temporary.
It's true that wind farms don't generate the economic bounty of oil and gas fields, but it would be a mistake to dismiss turbines as producing no value. The local property taxes, along with the pending return of sales tax on equipment purchases, will generate significant revenue for local governments, in particular. The construction projects are temporary, but they provide good-paying jobs. The permanent turbine maintenance positions aren't plentiful, but in a state that's desperate for diversification, they're certainly desirable.
In addition, there should be opportunity for Wyoming to gain a piece of the growing wind turbine manufacturing industry, as at least a couple of our neighboring states are doing.
* Ally of agriculture: Allowing wind turbines on their property could help many Wyoming ranch families maintain their operations, thereby preserving open space and wildlife habitat. That benefit should be factored into the debate.
* Transmission: Many of the prime areas for wind projects, especially in the southeast part of the state, can't be developed until lines are built to connect the wind power to the electrical grid. The Wyoming Infrastructure Authority and others are working to address that issue, and we applaud their efforts.
* Visual impairment: While some people aren't bothered by the appearance of wind turbines and power lines, others object. Much of Wyoming's schizophrenic response to the wind energy boom stems from those differences. One of the challenges in deciding where turbines and transmission lines are acceptable and where they're not will be for public agencies to discern how much they truly impair the countryside.
* Grouse: Wyoming's new insistence that wind farms can't be built in the state's designated "core" sage grouse areas has thrown up a big obstacle for some developers, but it was a prudent move by the state. And there are plenty of places to erect turbines where sage grouse aren't a concern.
* Regulation: As we've said before, Wyoming has an inconsistent regulatory framework to permit siting and construction of wind farms. State leaders must move quickly to find the proper balance of regulation by state and local governments to assure that the state's interests are protected and that wind developers have a fair, consistent regulatory environment.
There's no question that our nation is committed to development of more renewable energy, including wind. Wyoming has an opportunity to benefit from that push. But we need to make up our minds soon on how it unfolds here, or it could pass us by.