Mar. 11--On a windy day north of Palm Springs, energy officials unveiled what
may be one of the last new wind farms built in the San Gorgonio Pass. The farm, which was completed in December, consists of 34 wind turbines on
either side of Interstate 10 between the exits for Highway 111 and Indian Canyon
Drive. It will produce 22 megawatts of power, enough for 22,000 homes. San Diego Gas & Electric is buying the entire output of the farm, called
Mountain View III, as well a three additional megawatts from another farm, under
a 15 year-contract with the plant's owner, Portland, Ore.-based PPM Energy Inc. "This is our first project in this area," said Jim Avery, a senior
vice president for the San Diego utility, which has about 125 megawatts of wind
power in its system. All of the state's power companies are required to build the amount of
renewable energy resources in their portfolios to 20 percent by the year 2017.
San Diego Gas & Electric plans to be at about 9 percent by 2007, Avery said
by phone. The plant cost about $35 million, according to Evelyn Carpenter, the director
of project management and engineering for San Diego- based SeaWest WindPower
Inc., which built Mountain View III and will manage and maintain it for PPM
Energy. But because of strict zoning guidelines in Riverside County and increasing
public opposition from neighborhood groups, it may be the last new wind farm
built here. "There's probably a lot of opportunities for repowering" older
turbines with newer, more efficient ones, Carpenter said by phone. "But not
for new projects." SeaWest runs thousands of turbines around the world producing 480 megawatts
of power, including 200 megawatts in the San Gorgonio Pass in the form of 1,400
turbines, she added. The company employs 100 people in the Palm Springs area. The project was also one of the last in California to be built before the
federal wind-energy-production tax credit, which gave financial incentives to
companies that built wind farms, expired on Dec. 31 . Congress, which has to renew the credit every three years, failed to due so
last year, although it could pick the subject up again this year, according to
the American Wind Energy Association, which called the credit "vital"
to the industry's growth. Nearly 1,700 megawatts of new wind power -- enough for 425,000 homes -- was
installed in the United States in 2003, the association said.