Mar 03 - The Business Press, San Bernardino, Calif.

The deserts of the Middle East may be the cradle of petroleum-based energy, but the Mojave Desert is a hotbed for renewable carbon-free power.

An alternative energy firm based in Canada has secured a site in Barstow for a 100-megawatt wind and solar energy farm.

The 2,400-acre project is the first announcement of new acquisitions that Western Wind Energy Corp. in Coquitlam, British Columbia, is developing. Barstow is the largest wind resource opportunity in California outside the San Gorgonio Pass and Tehachapi.

Western Wind Energy is conducting environmental studies to complete the permit process. Unlike a number of wind energy developments in the region, this property is not located in a critical habitat area for the Desert Tortoise and therefore, Western Wind Energy anticipates a normal permitting process in achieving production.

The Canadians believe Western Wind is uniquely positioned to capitalize on California's appetite for renewable energy and the scarcity of sites to satisfy that demand.

In the past five years, Pacific Gas and Electric has established four wind turbine projects, according to the California Energy Commission.

Southern California Edison and PG&E combined have 96 wind turbine facilities operating in California, 22 of them in Riverside County.

The 23 wind turbine facilities in Riverside County generate a total of 361 megawatts. California wind turbine facilities generate more than 2,500 megawatts.

"There is an increasing amount of activity in wind power development market in California," said Paul Vercruyssen, project siting coordinator for the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology in Sacramento.

"We anticipate it to expand significantly in the next 10 to 12 years. The Public Utilities Commission and the State of Energy Commission have adopted goals of 33% renewable by 2020," he said.

The American Wind Energy Association and Solar Energy Industries Association released a study last month predicting that 116,000 U.S. jobs and nearly $19 billion in U.S. investment could be lost in just one year if Congress fails to extend renewable energy tax credits. Wind projects generate 1 to 1.5 construction jobs per megawatt, Vercruyssen said.

In operation, wind farms provide roughly 0.1 jobs per megawatt.

Sunny Barstow is home to more than 400 megawatts of solar energy generating facilities.

"Solar energy is an economic engine that creates high-quality jobs and attracts commercial investment," said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association in a release. Solar power is a popular energy alternative in Southern California. Compared with wind, it is more of a tradeoff rather than an upgrade, Vercruyssen said.

"I don't think one is necessarily better than the other or one is going to take over the market," he said. "They present different attributes. Wind is generally cheaper than rooftop solar, although the price for both is coming down."

"With wind, it's the utility that's buying it and they're buying it for all their customers," Vercruyssen said. "One of the big hurdles is having the transmission to get the new power to the load center; places like Riverside, San Bernardino are growing rapidly."

Western Wind Energy currently produces 34.5 megawatts of clean renewable electrical energy from more than 500 wind turbine generators located in Tehachapi and the San Gorgonio Pass.

During the past two years, Western Wind Energy has executed or acquired more than $1 billion of power sales agreements totaling 155 megawatts from the sale of wind energy electrical generation to two separate utilities.

Western Wind Energy acquires land, capital and technology for the production of electricity from wind energy.

The Canadian company conducts its operations through wholly owned subsidiaries in Arizona and California.

Western Wind Energy currently produces 34.5 MW of clean renewable electrical energy from more than 500 wind turbine generators located in Tehachapi (Windridge) and San Gorgonio Pass (Palm Springs), with energy output of 75 billion watt hours a year. The company has several other projects in late stages of development.

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