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<br /> THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
<br /> Optimism About Wind Power Whips Up Again
<br /> Continued From Page 81 But in Massachusetts, as in some Kittitas County's biggest taxpayer, con-
<br /> suming natural gas at$6 per million Brit- other places, resistance to wind turbines tributing more revenue than the next 10
<br /> ish thermal units, a kilowatt hour of elec- has surfaced. One reason is that the tur- biggest taxpayers combined.
<br /> tricity from a newly built gas-fired plant bines have gotten so big—some as tall as Wayne Brunetti, chief executive of
<br /> - costs at least 5.5 cents a kilowatt hour, 30-story buildings—that they dominate Xcel Energy Inc. in Minneapolis, says
<br /> including both fuel and capital costs.Nat- the horizon, creating conflict with those the company is a strong believer in wind
<br /> 02
<br /> ,uq ural-gas plants have led the sector in re- who dislike the visual impact. power,with more than 800 megawatts un-
<br /> = cent years because they can be con- Another potential hitch is that the der contract now and plans to boost that
<br /> _ structed quickly, are clean burning and best places for turbines are where the amount to 2,500 megawatts within the •
<br /> operate reliably. sustained winds are greatest, and that is next 10 years. He wants to use wind
<br /> Costs have come down for wind power often far from cities in sparsely popu- power to take pressure off fossil-fuel
<br /> while they have been pushed up for gas- lated parts of the Great Plains or in plants,cutting the multistate utility com-
<br /> fired plants by higher natural-gas prices. coastal areas that frequently are poorly pany's emissions of pollutants.
<br /> High oil prices have had less effect on the served by high-voltage transmission In many rural areas, wind power is
<br /> 7 power industry than in the past because lines. So getting the electricity to users regarded as an unabashed windfall. The
<br /> many generators shifted to other fuels as poses a challenge, as well. four turbines on the Bergan farm in
<br /> a result of the oil shocks of the 1970s. Nevertheless, several utilities are Iowa, for example, produce a total of
<br /> Demand for wind power also is being pressing ahead. Early wind turbines $9,600 a year in profit for the couple.
<br /> driven by state laws that require utilities were inefficient and susceptible to break- That's a lot of money in a community
<br /> to obtain set percentages of their electric- downs. Today's machines have advanced where the median household income in
<br /> ity from renewable sources by certain fiberglass composite blades that harness 2000 was $35,000 and where the median-
<br /> target dates. The amounts and deadlines more energy, plus sophisticated com- price home sold for 545,000.
<br /> vary, but 17 states now have such laws in puter controls that let them operate at Mr. Bergan's neighbor, Eliot Evans,
<br /> place, with New York being the latest variable speeds,increasing power produc- has five turbines on his farm and says it
<br /> addition. Some states,like Wisconsin,al- tion. "We've also gotten better at measur- "pencils out a lot better to have turbines
<br /> ready have met their initial targets and ing the wind and figuring out where to than soybeans or corn," especially with
<br /> are considering raising the goals. put the turbines,"adds James Johnson,a row-crop prices "pretty low lately."Pass-
<br /> If the states achieve their targets, as senior engineer at the National Wind ersby sometimes pull off the nearby inter-
<br /> 'much as 22,000 megawatts of renewable Technology Center in Golden, Colo. state highway and admire the communi-
<br /> energy could be created in the next de- Another plus: Because the machines ty's cluster of 89 turbines "spinning like
<br /> cade, doubling today's installed base stand higher off the ground, blades can crazy, minting money for us," he says.
<br /> from such things as solar,wind,biomass be longer and spin in a bigger arc. That In southeastern Colorado, ranchers
<br /> • and small hydroelectric projects. Wind- means the tips appear to move more are coming to rely on income from tur-
<br /> power capacity has tripled since 1998 to slowly and are easier to see, allowing bines to make up for the fact that they
<br /> • about 6,400 megawatts and the cost of its birds to take evasive action. The problem have been forced to cull their cattle herds
<br /> electric output has fallen about 90%since of killing birds plagued the industry in Emick family—parents o a Robert anddrought. The
<br /> he
<br /> the early 1980s. Lawrence Berkeley's Mr. its early days.
<br /> Wiser says that if the nation eventually .Utilities are ramping up their wind- and their eight grown children—signed a
<br /> garners 15% to 20% of its power from power efforts. In Oregon, Scottish deal with Scottish Power's PPM unit
<br /> renewable sources, up from about 2%to- Power PLC's PacifiCorp utility recently about a year ago and now have 98 tur-
<br /> day, "it might produce-a 10%reduction in was swamped with bids for 6,000 mega- bines scattered across 12,000 acres of
<br /> the price of natural gas" as demand for watts of renewable-energy capacity, rangeland near the county seat of Lamar.
<br /> gas moderates, saving consumers bil- most of it for wind and geothermal Greg Emick, the oldest son, says that
<br /> lions of dollars a year. projects. PPM Energy, an affiliate of "income from turbines will be as much as
<br /> The price-hedging potential of renew- PacifiCorp.and the second-biggest wind- from cattle this year."•He says the clan
<br /> able power is a plus that is cited by pro- power developer in the U.S., now has lost 65 acres to the turbine pads"or about
<br /> moters of a contentious wind project on contracts with 18 utilities to supply as much land as it takes to support a cow
<br /> Massachusetts' Nantucket Sound. The them with wind power. and a calf out here," but it expects to
<br /> Cape Wind Project, the first offshore In Washington, Puget Energy Inc.'s receive royalty payments of $200,000 to
<br /> U.S.project,would be capable of generat- Puget Sound Energy in September said it $500,000 a year from the turbines.
<br /> ing more than 400 megawatts of electric- intends to buy the entire output of a new Prowers County Assessor Andy Wyatt
<br /> ity from 130 turbines, or enough to meet wind farm that Zilkha Renewable En- says wind turbines have boosted prop-
<br /> most of Cape Cod's electricity needs. It ergy of Houston hopes to build on range- erty-tax receipts by 35%. Adds Cheryl
<br /> would take pressure off natural-gas us- land near Ellensburg in eastern Washing- Sanchez, president of the Lamar Cham-
<br /> age, which has become a worry in New ton. The Wild Horse project is expected ber of Commerce, "Ladies out here were
<br /> England since the region now relies on to include more than 100 turbines produc- always upset because the wind messed
<br /> the fuel for 40%of its power generation, ing 165 megawatts of power, enough to up their hair,but now we're getting some-
<br /> up from less than 2% in 1980. power 40,000 homes. If built, it would be thing good from the wind."
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