‘Robust’ grid is needed to propel wind power

The Western states have tremendous opportunities to generate power from wind, but there’s a glaring deficiency: inadequate high- voltage power lines to carry the electricity to consumers.

"There is a need to have a robust transmission grid," said Pat Wood, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, during a conference on wind energy in Denver on Wednesday.

By Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News

http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/business/article/0,1299,DRMN_4_3367753,00.html

Wood said lack of a regional collaboration to build and manage transmission lines is thwarting new investment in the grid. Transmission lines carry high-voltage electricity from power plants to substations where the voltage is lowered for final delivery to households.

"A robust grid will ensure good pricing for electricity and savings for consumers," Wood said, noting that newer transmission lines will help wind-power developers better compete across Western electricity markets and offer lower prices.

Wood said FERC would push for the creation of a regional transmission organization, known as an RTO, in the West.

An RTO, like an air-traffic control tower, directs the flow of electricity to different transmission lines just as controllers in the tower direct airplanes to various flight paths.

The RTO does not own the electricity or the transmission lines. It just coordinates the trade and flow of electricity so that companies can buy and sell power through one agency.

"It is frustrating that nobody trusts anybody to be a leader and develop an RTO in the West," Wood added.

Speaking at the conference, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson urged FERC to play a more aggressive role in promoting wind energy and resolving transmission issues.

Richardson said Congress should extend the federal production tax credit for wind by five to 10 years to make the generation cost more stable over a longer period. The wind tax credit – 1.8 cents per kilowatt-hour – has been extended through Dec. 31, 2005.

Also, Richardson suggested a national renewable energy standard whereby the U.S. would commit to generate 25 percent of its total electricity from wind, solar and other renewable sources by 2020.

"We should create incentives such as investment credits for power projects that combine wind with gasified coal . . . that will make it easier to dispatch wind power across states," Richardson said.

Wind energy

• The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to allow an estimated 3,200 megawatts of wind-energy development across 16,000 acres of federal land in 11 Western states in the next 20 years.

• About 4,200 acres of federal land in Colorado will be available to generate roughly 90 megawatts, said BLM’s Lee Otteni during Wednesday’s conference in Denver.

• Public comment on BLM’s draft policy will be accepted through Dec. 10, and a final decision will be made in July or August 2005.