Wind Power Projects in Northwest U.S. Should Be National Model, Groups Say
Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash. - March 31, 2004
Environmental groups praised the future of wind power during a tour of an Oregon wind farm Tuesday, saying the Northwest should serve as a model for the nation to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels used to generate electricity.
"Washington and Oregon are among the leaders of renewable energy
development," said Marc Krasnowsky, communications director for the NW
Energy Coalition, a collection of utilities and environmental and consumer
groups. "But there's so much more that can be done."
He supports projects like the Eurus Combine Hills wind farm near Milton-Freewater.
The 11,000-acre project can generate up to 41 megawatts of electricity, enough
to power about 13,500 homes, and the company behind it has plans to build 63
more one-megawatt windmills nearby.
That project was made possible through the Energy Trust of Oregon, which
collects a 3 percent surcharge on Oregon utility bills to fund projects such as
conservation and renewable energy. The trust contributed $3.8 million to help
make possible the deal between Eurus and PacifiCorp, the utility that buys the
wind farm's power.
One reason is that wind power is still too expensive to compete with natural
gas or coal-fired power plants without federal tax credits, said Tom Farnham,
project administration manager for the Eurus Energy America Corp.
Since 1992, that tax credit has offered 1.8 cents per kilowatt-hour of wind
energy produced, which helps wind power producers sell their power for the 3 to
4 cents per kilowatt hour range that makes them competitive with traditional
power plants.
But the credit expired at the end of last year, and because it's part of the
contentious energy bill, has yet to be renewed. That's delayed several wind
power projects, including Eurus' expansion, Farnham said.
"You won't see any projects until the credit comes back," he said.
"We've got a deal that's on hold."
Paul Shively of the Sierra Club blasted the current energy bill for offering
too many subsidies to the fossil fuel industries and not enough to renewable
energy.
"You're seeing a few good things in this energy bill being held
hostage" to supporters of the fossil fuel industries, he said.
That point of view was disputed by John Felmy, chief economist for the
American Petroleum Institute, an oil industry trade group. He argued that fossil
fuels produce 85 percent of the nation's energy and thus deserve more support.
"Solar, wind and geothermal account for 0.5 percent of supply," he
said from Washington, D.C. "Any arguments that they can supply a
significant amount of energy in the foreseeable future is absurd."
But Krasnowsky said a study paid for by his group predicts the Northwest can
meet its new energy needs through 2020 solely through renewable resources and
conservation.
But that kind of expansion will take much more support from federal and state
government, he said. He set forth an ambitious platform that includes a national
fund for renewable energy and a goal of producing 20 percent of the nation's
electricity through renewable resources by 2020.
Another problem with wind power is that it's intermittent -- because the wind
doesn't blow all the time, wind farms can't guarantee a steady output of power.
In practice, wind farms usually can generate about one-third of their maximum
capacity over a year, Krasnowsky said.
But there are ways to work around this problem, he said. For example, the
Bonneville Power Administration has deals with some utilities to buy their wind
power in exchange for steady, adjustable hydroelectric power, in what are called
"shaping" services.
"Utilities are learning how to integrate these so-called intermittent
sources to their supply," Krasnowsky said.
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