Texas Big On Wind Energy

[irishbobcat]

Texas Big On Wind Energy

Texas wind power: big 'n breezy
Wind power continued as a growing force in electricity production in Texas in 2010, accounting for 7.8 percent of generation for the power grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages 85 percent of the state's electric load.

As evidenced by the striking maze of towering wind turbines that motorists encounter in stretches of West Texas, ERCOT's territory has 9,528 megawatts of installed wind generation, the highest total among the 50 states.

"This is a huge multibillion-dollar industry that Texas is the leader in," said Greg Wortham, executive director of the Texas Wind Energy Clearinghouse and mayor of the West Texas town of Sweetwater, which is surrounded by a sea of turbines.

By 2015, Texas could derive 15 percent of its electricity generation from wind power, Wortham said. A massive $5 billion effort is underway to build big new tranmission lines from wind-blown West Texas to population centers such as Dallas-Fort Worth where power usage is heaviest.

--Jack Z. Smith