Why Not Ohio? Texas Town to Get New Jobs

[Dan Moadus]

OOPS! You forgot to tell us how much this one is costing us.

[irishbobcat]

Why Not Ohio? Texas Town to Get New Jobs

Vega, Texas - More wind power being added to the area, may soon power your home.
In the coming months, more wind turbines will dot the horizon near Vega, as plans move forward to begin construction of a new wind farm, Spinning Spur Wind Ranch.

The developer, Austin-based Cielo Wind Power is in the process of selecting a wind turbine manufacturer among other things, and hopes to get the project underway this summer.

Xcel Energy has a stake in it as well. They will buy the energy from the 161-megawatt wind farm. Wes Reeves of Xcel Energy says, "We talk about this in terms of megawatt hours, which is a measure of energy usage over time. We are talking about 650,000 megawatt hours of electricity coming out of this facility in a year's time. That's enough to power about 54,000 typical homes in this area. So based on the average usage, an average home uses about 12 megawatt hours in a year."

The farm is expected to be completed sometime next year. It is estimated to bring up to 200 new jobs to the area and generate economic growth with new businesses and services.

Spinning Spur will also help energy companies such as Xcel to rely less on conventional energy, something they say will greatly benefit customers and their electric bill.