Wind energy summit to look at options
Nov 25 - Tulsa World
Financing pressures may be up and fuel prices down, but the time is
still right to take advantage of Oklahoma's wind power potential, a
state energy official said Monday.
Deputy Secretary of Energy Brad Williams was touting next week's
Revolution 2009: Oklahoma Wind Energy Conference. The event runs Dec.
2-3 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.
Last year's conference featured billionaire T. Boone Pickens and a fresh
optimism about growing wind energy options in the state. This year's
gathering includes national figures, such as American Wind Energy
Association director and former state Corporation Commissioner Denise
Bode. Gone is Pickens' star power, and the sector's enthusiasm has been
worn down by recession and falling prices for oil and natural gas.
Not so fast, Williams said. Wind energy investment is wounded by
economic factors and outsized expectations, he said, but it can and
should play a huge factor in the future.
"I don't think it's dissipated at all," Williams said. "Wind can be very
complementary; it's the perfect partner with natural gas."
Wind and natural gas, in other words, can be put into action quickly to
turn turbines and are clearer environmentally than coal- fired
generation plans. They are not cheap to build, but wind farms and gas
facilities are not nearly as expensive, financially or politically, as
nuclear power.
Oklahoma ranks No. 12 nationally in its deliverable wind power. The
state had about 851 megawatts of installed capacity as of December, the
American Wind Energy Association reported.
Oklahoma residents also are positive about going with the flow, if a
recent state survey is any indication. Forty percent would be willing to
pay as much as $6 or more in additional monthly rates to help investment
in wind power infrastructure, according to the Sooner Survey conducted
by Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates of Oklahoma City and funded by
the nonprofit Wind Coalition.
Overall, 72 percent of the survey's 600 respondents said they were
willing to pay higher rates for electricity if it is generated by wind.
"Not only do Oklahomans support wind energy in theory, but they are also
willing to put their money where their mouth is," the Sooner Survey
report reads.
AEP-PSO -- American Electric Power-Public Service Company of Oklahoma --
and Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. also raised their wind profiles over the
past few years. The state's two major utilities would like their
generation portfolios to include at least 10 percent or more in wind
power, according to reports.
The danger, Williams noted, is in thinking of those western Oklahoma air
currents as a primary source of electricity. The wind doesn't always
blow.
Natural gas plants fire up quickly and can be shut down when wind is
available, he said.
"Nuclear and coal cannot fit that need," Williams said.
Another key issue for next week's conference is transmission capacity.
The Southwest Power Pool has recommended construction of lengthy
345-kilovolt transmission lines connecting in Woodward at a combined
cost of more than $300 million.
The SWPP, which oversees utility generation networks through the region,
is not only pitching a transmission build-out to bring wind power to
customers but also determining ways that those costs can be spread out
over distance and ratepayers.
"The real key to unlocking wind is the transmission issue," Williams
said.
The conference also will feature former CIA Director and Oklahoman James
Woolsey as its Dec. 2 luncheon keynote speaker. He is a venture
capitalist helping fund some alternative energy investments.
At 10:30 a.m. Dec. 3, a panel of experts is scheduled to focus on the
transmission challenges within the power grid. Among the panelists will
be Les Dillahunty, vice president of regulatory policy with the
Southwest Power Pool; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Marc
Spitzer; and Texas energy consultant Julie Parsley.
Other conference topics will be landowner issues and environmental
challenges.
What: Revolution: Oklahoma Wind energy Conference
When: Dec. 2-3
Where: Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City
Who: Amercian Wind energy Association CEO Denise Bode, state Secretary
of energy Bobby Wegener, venture capitalist and former CIA director
James Woolsey, OGe energy Corp. CeO Pete Delaney.
Information: (405) 325-3760 or (800) 03-5494.
Rod Walton 581-8457
Originally published by ROD WALTON World Staff Writer.
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