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WASHINGTON, DC, US, March 29, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
The climbing price of natural gas has pushed the
cost for conventional electricity above the cost of wind-generated
electricity, and this crossing of the cost lines is “a milestone in
the U.S. shift to a renewable energy economy,” says Lester Brown of
the Earth Policy Institute.
Utilities which launched green power programs in 2000 required
customers to pay a voluntary premium for electricity from wind
turbines, he explains in his new book, ‘Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a
Planet Under Stress & a Civilization in Trouble.’ Austin Energy of
Texas buys wind power under ten-year contracts and charges a fixed
price to its GreenChoice subscribers, including Advanced Micro
Devices, Dell, IBM, Samsung and 3M. AMD expects to save US$4 million
over the next decade through its purchase.
The resulting “stampede” of consumers who now want to purchase the
remaining supply of green power has forced Austin Energy to resort
to a ‘GreenChoice’ raffle where all residential and business
customers are eligible for participate in a drawing for the
remaining supply.
“In the short run, the price advantage of wind over conventional
electricity may disappear as the surging demand for wind electricity
from climate-conscious customers outruns the supply, driving up the
price, and as natural gas prices fall from their late 2005 highs,”
he cautions. “Over the longer term, however, as reserves of natural
gas are depleted, its price is projected to rise, giving a strong
advantage to wind.”
Interest in wind energy is rising as production costs fall and,
although attention focuses on communities which oppose wind
turbines, “in most of the country windfarms are enthusiastically
welcomed.” Large turbines can generate $100,000 of electricity each
year, and a 3% royalty would provide ranchers with $3,000 a year
from leasing a quarter-acre of land on which they can still run
cattle.
Wind capacity in the U.S. expanded by 36% last year to reach 9,149
MW, and it could expand by 50% this year, he suggests. “Wind power
generation would grow even faster if it were not constrained by the
availability of turbines,” and General Electric is sold out through
2007 and other manufacturers have their production committed well
into the future.
“Wind energy is emerging as a centerpiece of the new energy economy
because it is abundant, inexpensive, inexhaustible, widely
distributed, clean and climate-benign,” he explains. “The cost of
wind-generated electricity has fallen from 38¢ per kWh in the early
1980s to 4¢ to 6¢ today, offering an almost endless supply of cheap
energy.”
“Beyond that, these wells will never go dry,” he adds. “No one can
cut off the supply or raise the fuel cost, and wind can supply our
energy needs without disrupting the earth’s climate.”
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