Wind power isn’t just a bunch of hot air

Companies are moving forward on the development of wind-turbine projects, says Bert Caldwell.

Bert Caldwell
The Spokesman-Review

Tentative consumer interest in wind power has not discouraged utilities selling the electricity, nor investors backing development of the resource.

Tuesday, a Texas-based group announced plans for Washington’s third major wind-turbine project.

Completion of the 180-megawatt Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project next year will boost total generating capacity from in-state windmills to about 410 megawatts, more than Avista Utilities’ Cabinet Gorge Dam.

A megawatt will sustain about 650 homes.

The Stateline Generating Project has the capacity to generate 180 megawatts in Washington and 120 in Oregon, making it the largest wind-generation project in North America, and Nine Canyon can produce 48 megawatts.

Nine Canyon, owned by Energy Northwest, is the largest wind project owned by public utilities in North America.

Just two years ago, there was no wind power generated in Washington.

Rising demand for wind power corresponds with a falloff in natural-gas-fired turbine development. Although the Northwest has added 2,600 megawatts of generating capacity from gas-fired plants, another 1,200 megawatts in capacity has been shelved. Some already had permits, normally the last hurdle before construction begins.

They may yet be built.

But the turbine projects were conceived or hastened when electricity prices soared in 2000 and 2001. Then prices collapsed. Despite a rebound, turbines remain a marginal economic proposition.

Whether they can compete in the future will always depend on the price of natural gas. And therein lies the beauty of wind.

It may not blow all the time, but the price is always right — nothing. And wind pairs nicely with hydropower. If the wind blows, operators can throttle back generation at the region’s dams. No wind, throttle up.

Jan Johnson says a kilowatt-hour from gas costs slightly more than 4 cents to generate. From wind, the cost is less than 4 cents.

Johnson is a spokeswoman for PPL, which sells the power from the Stateline project west of Walla Walla. Not only have all 300 megawatts from Stateline been sold, she notes, so has another 24 megawatts from the Klondike Project in Oregon, which PPL bought Tuesday.

Wind does have advantages that have nothing to do with fuel costs. The federal government provides a 1.8 cents-per-kilowatt tax break to private wind developers. The subsidy is due to expire at the end of 2003. Proponents hope for a renewal.

Washington waives the sales tax on equipment and services related to alternative energy projects.

And by 2017, investor-owned utilities in California must obtain 20 percent of their power from "green" sources.

Washington lawmakers two years ago passed a bill that required the state’s 16 largest utilities to offer some form of green power — wind, biomass, solar — to customers on a voluntary basis. Most launched their programs about a year ago.

The utilities — Avista Utilities included — say less than 1 percent of their customers choose to buy green power.

Avista launched its "Buck a Block" program last January. Customers pay a $1 surcharge for every 55 kilowatt-hours of green power they choose to buy.

Chris Drake, the program administrator for Avista, said customers were slow to pick up the Buck, with the environmentally minded the first aboard.

But 400 signed up during the last three months of 2002, an indication mainstream customers are enlisting.

The Kinko’s print shops in Spokane are the only significant commercial subscriber so far.

Customers have purchased 7,500 "Bucks" a month. Avista breaks even at 10,000.

The Northwest’s leader in green power adoption, the Eugene Water and Electric Board, has a participation rate of slightly more than 3percent after three years.

Johnson says public utilities like Eugene’s can make the political choice to have all customers share the cost of green power.

Washington’s green power bill forbids cost-sharing. Spokane Valley Rep. Larry Crouse, who sponsored that measure, says cost-sharing is unfair to those who cannot afford the higher rates that result.

All customers benefit from the mix of green power, but some patience is in order. The programs already in place should be allowed to mature before Washington lawmakers impose new requirements.

Business columnist Bert Caldwell can be reached at (509) 459-5450 or by e-mail at [email protected]

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=011603&ID=s1288852&cat=section.business