Plans to quadruple OG&E's wind power production and start a trasmission line project to make renewable power available to Oklahoma's population centers were announced Tuesday by OG&E Energy Corp. Chairman, President and CEO Pete Delaney. ...Alford stressed that wind energy cannot replace coal-fire and natural gas power generation. He said that typically wind power was only available 40 percent of the time. Wind also tends to blow less in high temperatures and cannot serve to provide base-load or 24-hour power production. "You have to have traditional fossil fuel generation," Alford said.

General Oklahoma

For $50,000, Oklahoma can get the same kind of comprehensive study Kansas got from Southwest Power Pool on the state's wind power resource. The plan could be finished by spring 2008 and would provide the guidance state leaders need to form a plan for new electricity generation and transmission upgrades. ...Bary K. Warren, director of transmission policy and compliance for the Empire District Electric Co. in Joplin, Mo., cautioned the group to keep projections for future wind generation development modest. Companies may put out press releases indicating their intent to build future capacity, but unforeseen developments may significantly limit the amount of wind generation that actually gets built, he said.

Technology Energy Policy General 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.

Technology General Oklahoma Texas

"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"...

General Oklahoma Texas

The Oklahoma panhandle has plenty of wind power-generating capacity, and more capacity is scheduled for the near future. Now if there was only a way to get all that power onto the electricity grid. Members of the Oklahoma Electric Power Transmission Task Force on July 9 discussed the pressing need for improvements to the state's transmission infrastructure, particularly near Oklahoma's "wind farms." The problem is finding a company willing to invest in a project that may or may not yield a sizable return......Even if SPP agrees that the expenditures for new transmission for wind power in the area can be classified as improvements made for the sake of reliability, due to the unpredictability of wind power generation, the organization will give only a 10-percent accreditation for wind power. Warren said there have been days when the wind just doesn't blow. "Sometimes we got zero megawatts out of a 150-megawatt wind farm," he said, adding that his company couples wind power with more reliable generation sources. The situation puts investors at high risk, said Lepard. "You can get back 10 percent, but you have to build a line capable of handling the whole thing," said Lepard.

Energy Policy General Oklahoma

Westbound drivers along Intertstate 40 can't help but crane their necks at the site of dozens of wind generators that have gone up on both sides of the interstate in western Oklahoma.

General Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Consumers who purchase wind turbines to provide electricity for their homes would get a tax break under a bill approved Tuesday by the Oklahoma Senate. Under the bill, consumers could get a 40 percent tax credit on the cost of a wind turbine. Critics said it was not economically feasible for most homeowners since the average cost of a wind turbine for home use is about $50,000. Some objected to the bill because it also gives the same tax credit to solar energy devices. Sen. Mike Johnson, R-Kingfisher, called the bill "irresponsible."

Taxes & Subsidies General Oklahoma

Oklahoma has long been known for its abundant reserves of oil and gas, but Norman-area lawmakers want to add wind power to the list of leading energy sources. Already, 420 towering wind turbines in western Oklahoma provide about 3 percent of the state's electricity, according to the Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative, a joint project of the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University.

Energy Policy General Oklahoma

A new study could put 10 Texas counties in front of the pack to lure wind energy companies and related industries to them. The city of Childress, along with 10 counties and Harmon County in Oklahoma, have formed the Rolling Plains Rural Partnership and are applying for a $150,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Office. The yearlong study, if funding is approved, would place about nine or 10 anemometers around the partnership's area. The anemometers collect and record wind data for the entire year. The exact areas the towers will be located will be determined by a meteorologist and based on elevations and current and future transmission lines. What the group is banking on is the creation of the Panhandle Loop, an electrical transmission system being debated that would transmit electricity from West Texas to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas's grid, which provides electricity to a majority of Texas residents. The $1.5 billion loop is in the planning stages, but is awaiting the outcome of June hearings by the Public Utilities Commissions to approve wind energy areas in West Texas.

Energy Policy General Zoning/Planning Oklahoma Texas

Greenblatt noted that while wind power could produce impressive amounts of peak energy during strong gusts, the biggest problem was wind power’s intermittency. The problem could be addressed by a process called compressed air energy storage, where excess energy could be used to pump compressed air into underground storage facilities that could include abandoned mines. When the wind was not blowing, he said, the compressed air could be tapped and combined with the burning of natural gas to create high-efficiency electrical generators approximating the efficiency levels of coal-fueled power plants.

Technology General USA Colorado Nebraska Oklahoma Texas Wyoming

Reaffirming their mission as “stewards of land and livestock,” members of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association adopted policy Oct. 13 calling for enhanced government support for environmental conservation, an independent evaluation of industrial wind farms and efforts to address the growing shortage of large-animal veterinarians.

General Zoning/Planning Oklahoma Texas

Wind power is booming — not necessarily because of the environmental benefits, but because of the cash they spin off.

Taxes & Subsidies General Oklahoma

AMARILLO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 24, 2006--Xcel Energy has issued a request for proposals for about 40,500 megawatt-hours of annual renewable energy or renewable energy certificates to be generated from renewable technologies other than wind turbines.

General Kansas New Mexico Oklahoma Texas

OG&E Electric Services announced Wednesday it signed a contract with an affiliate of Illinois-based Invenergy Wind LLC to build OG&E’s new wind energy facility located north of Woodward in Harper County.

General Oklahoma

A new simulation finds serious and previously unrecognized environmental threats from massive wind farms in the American Great Plains. A recent study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research by scientists from Princeton and Duke Universities indicates massive wind farms would significantly increase local surface drying and soil heating, which in turn would impact agricultural or range use on or near the wind farm. The modeling experiment used current wind turbine and rotor technology to assess local climate impacts from a simulated wind farm with 10,000 turbines, arranged in a simple, square array of 100 by 100 turbines, each spaced one kilometer apart.

Energy Policy General Impact on Landscape Zoning/Planning Oklahoma