Texas will be the wind power capital of the world. (Houston: sales, power lines)

[smitty12]

Lots of wind infrastructure is currently being built in west Texas.

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens wants to supplant oil with wind - USATODAY.com

"Were it a country all by itself, Nolan County, Texas, would rank sixth on the list of wind-energy-producing nations, says Wortham."

"New turbine towers are going up at a rate of three to four a day in the Sweetwater area, Wortham says. "It depends on the (Texas) Public Utility Commission, but the number could be 20,000 ultimately," Wortham says."

And Texas is on it's own grid separate than the rest of the continental United States so all that power has to be used in-state.

[loves2read]

there is a big difference between building wind towers and getting that electricity on the grid--
there is still have to be other means to power if the wind is not sufficient so that means falling back on natural gas or coal
it is more expensive to add the power lines that windpower requires--basically means building a new infrastructure
it won't be cheap--so it is not really free then, is it, to have wind power
it is just paying the price a different way...

[Philosophizer]

lol. he's putting in a coal burner in north texas. the only way he could secure property/water/mineral right of ways to all the land he bought up was to convince people he was putting up a bunch of windmills. environmentalists have become such a powerful force in politics, Pickens had to lie about his intentions just to provide cheap electricity to us Texas residents that have been hammered by soaring natural gas prices (the vast majority of power generation comes from natural gas in this state). you people are funny.

Pickens is ahead of the game. He knows that within the next few years, there is going to be a serious energy shortage in this country. He's investing properly and the only way he could do this nation a favor is by selling us some fake goods. God bless him for it though. As an investor, I'd be buying smaller utility companies as there will be all sorts of buy outs going on in the future as energy becomes scarce and bigger companies start consolidating.

Wind energy for the production of electricity is nothing but a farce anyway. If we want to get serious about energy, we need to be building nuclear plants.

Wind power scam [National Wind Watch]

[smitty12]

Originally Posted by loves2read

there is a big difference between building wind towers and getting that electricity on the grid--
there is still have to be other means to power if the wind is not sufficient so that means falling back on natural gas or coal
it is more expensive to add the power lines that windpower requires--basically means building a new infrastructure
it won't be cheap--so it is not really free then, is it, to have wind power
it is just paying the price a different way...

Transmission infrastructure is approved and will be build over the next several years to get that power to the grid:

Texas approves major new wind power project | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/5893790.html - broken link)

There are exciting technologies coming online for compressed air stored underground to level out the variability of wind, west Texas is also ideal for this technology with all the old gas and oil fields that can now store compressed air.

WattHead: Texas Wind Power Mega-Project Announced - May Utilize Compressed Air Energy Storage

"Greg Wortham, director of the West Texas Wind Energy Coalition in Sweetwater, said the use of compressed air to balance the unpredictability of wind power represents what he called the industry's "holy grail" -- the ability to store wind energy so that it is available on demand, just like electricity from traditional power plants that rely on natural gas, coal and nuclear energy."

I do agree that wind cannot be the only power generation, but it can make a be a significant chunk, and will make a real difference. We should be building more Nuclear Power also.

[KantLockeMeIn]

What a sham.... we're all going to be paying an extra $4 a month to pay for the transmission lines to run to this. Why does a non-legislative department of the state government get to decide to tax me? Why should I subsidize a private business?

If the model were cost efficient, the businesses would be able to sell the service on its own rather than milking the residents for 5 billion dollars.

[Muhnay]

I thought we were already the Wind Capital of the world?

[Lucidus]

Originally Posted by Muhnay

I thought we were already the Wind Capital of the world?

Last I heard, we are still behind Germany and Spain but gaining fast.

[lonestar2007]

Originally Posted by twojciac

What a sham.... we're all going to be paying an extra $4 a month to pay for the transmission lines to run to this. Why does a non-legislative department of the state government get to decide to tax me? Why should I subsidize a private business?

If the model were cost efficient, the businesses would be able to sell the service on its own rather than milking the residents for 5 billion dollars.

You remember the old saying, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, well that's all it is. These big guys got big by knowing all the ins and outs of making money, getting other people to pay for things while they reap the profits. And hey, if you can do it, more power to you, I guess. I'm just jealous cause I don't know how to build that better mousetrap and con people into building it for me.

This has always been the case with things though. A millionaire wants to build a stadium in your fair city, he knows whose palms to grease. Oh sure, they have to have an election to see if the citizens will pass a 1/4% or 1/2% sales tax to help fund it, but if they already decided to build the stadium, it doesn't matter if everyone in the city votes against it, it will pass. Same as with school bonds. They want one passed for sure, it will pass, make no mistake about it.

And when you see the two main players hobnobbing with each other, (just like little Geoge Bush did with his Arab princes/buddies that he invited over to his Crawford ranch for a big old fashioned Texas bar-b-que0, well, you know you're in for a screwing. But, I'm sure they'd be the first to tell you they don't make the rules, they just play by them.

[vantexan]

Seems to me that a huge investment is being made in wind farms. If you lived out on the plains you would realize just how much wind there is to turn those turbines. It isn't just Pickens that's putting money into it. I'm all for anything to get us independent of foreign oil. Nuclear, solar, wind, drilling offshore or in ANWR, electric cars, whatever. There are 2 new wind farms near Lubbock with 250 windmills between them and that's a drop in the bucket. Look closely at those calling it a sham and you'll probably find people who stand to lose money competing with wind farms. Afterall, if you use coal or natural gas to generate electricity you're at a disadvantage compared to free wind pushing your turbines. Yes, nothing is entirely free, but that applies to any method used.

[car957]

Originally Posted by Muhnay

I thought we were already the Wind Capital of the world?

We are - when the Legislature is in session.