Nov 12 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Nancy Gaarder Omaha World-Herald, Neb.

Federal help to build transmission lines will be necessary if Nebraska is to reach its full potential for wind energy.

That's the word from Nebraska's first wind energy conference, which started Tuesday and continues today in Kearney. The conference, which about 400 people are attending, comes at a time of increased interest in wind energy in the state and nation.

Nebraska is ranked as the sixth-windiest state in the nation by the American Wind Energy Association. Iowa ranks 10th in wind potential but far exceeds Nebraska in actual production.

But most of Nebraska's best wind sites are far from population centers and lack the high-voltage lines needed to move electrical power to where it is needed.

Transmission lines, which are quite large, are costly and unpopular. Additionally, there are technical and regulatory obstacles to updating the electrical system. Federal help will be needed to update regulations to make it easier to move power across the country, utility executives say.

David Rich, renewable energy development manager for the Nebraska Public Power District, said national investment in transmission lines also will be needed for wind energy to reach its full potential, especially in a large, sparsely populated state such as Nebraska. He said a good example from the nation's past is the Interstate system, which wouldn't have been built without federal funding.

The federal government has estimated that the U.S. will need to invest $43 billion in its electrical system if it is to get 20 percent of its electricity from wind by 2030, a goal set by President Bush.

Susan Williams Sloan with the National Wind Energy Association said that translates into 50 cents per household per month -- if the costs are spread out nationally.

President-elect Barack Obama also has made wind energy a part of his plan to reduce dependence on foreign oil. He has called for extending wind-power tax credits, rebuilding the nation's electrical grid and spending $150 billion on clean energy technology, including wind turbines.

A U.S. Energy Department study projects that in Nebraska, most of the new transmission line construction would be in the eastern, more populous side of the state. That has to do with the fact that there are more population centers in the eastern United States, and thus more demand, and with the way the nation's electrical system is constructed.

Because transmission is also a problem beyond Nebraska's borders, a number of government and utility organizations are studying the issue.

"We will need significantly more transmission if we are going to have large-scale development of wind in Nebraska and the region," said Paul Malone, transmissions strategies and planning manager for NPPD.

About 1 percent of Nebraska's electricity comes from renewable energy, and most of that is wind power. That figure does not include hydropower.

The Nebraska Public Power District has set a goal of getting 10 percent of its electricity from nonhydro renewable energy by 2020, Rich said. To do so, it expects to add about 80 megawatts of renewable energy every other year, beginning in 2010.

--Contact the writer: 444-1102, nancy.gaarder@owh.com

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