THE BUSINESS OF AND BATTLE OVER WIND

The U.S. Midwestern prairies have been called the Saudi Arabia of wind energy. Calculations have shown there is enough wind in the central corridor of the country to power the nation.

As recently as the Great Depression of the 1930s, the winds were ruinous to Midwestern farmers. With the advent the New Energy era, wind has become a potential saving grace for them.

The Department of Energy expects the wind industry to go from its present 1% of U.S. electricity generation to 20% of U.S. electricity generation by 2030. That means a lot of ranch and farmland leasing, a lot of rural community regeneration, a lot of new transmission and a dramatic shift in energy consumption away from sources that spew greenhouse gases or cause radioactive dilemmas.

Present estimated cost in Kansas: Already built coal -- 1.5 cents/kilowatt-hour. Natural gas -- 10-14 cents. Wind -- 4.5 cents. Coal from new coal plants -- 4.5 cents.

A second, enormous wind energy resource are offshore winds. Developing them is expected to be farther off and more costly.

Kansas has become the battleground between wind energy advocates and supporters of traditional energy sources, especially coal. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson and Secretary of Health and Environment Rod Bremby, though under great pressure, have stood firmly against new coal plant development by Sunflower Electric Power. (See Kansas Fights Back and KANSAS REJECTS EMISSIONS)

Lieutenant Governor Parkinson: "We have become a battleground for the whole nation…"

The Kansas leaders are relying on the state’s enormous wind energy assets to justify their stand. The wind energy industry is rising to the challenge.

Terry Antenen, landowner organizer: "There's a wind rush going on out here…Instead of being picked off, we're going out and picking our developer."

Fossil fuel advocates are doing everything they can, from political obstruction to criminal intimidations, to stop wind. One of the most effective weapons wind obstructors wield is local environmetal activistism. Most big pro-environmental groups (ex: Sierra Club, Greenpeace, the Audubon Society) endorse carefully sited wind installations but local splinter groups, often funded by fossil fuel interests, can raise objections that slow development.

To combat this, the American Wind Energy Association has written a rigorous set of siting guidelines and led in the formation of the American Wind Wildlife Institute, a public-private partnership of government agencies and non-governmental organizations, dedicated to establishing a demanding set of environmental impact standards wind installations must meet.

95-year-old Isabelle Ferrell has lived on the Ferrell Ranch in Kansas’ Flint Hills since the 1920s. Pete Ferrell, her son, built the 100-turbine Elk River Wind Project on the ranch and travels Kansas advocating for wind energy. Isabelle heartily endorses her son’s endeavors. Recalling horseback rides with her late rancher-husband three-quarters of a century ago over range now graced by the wind installation, Isabelle says: "He'd say we're just stewards of the land…It's Pete's feeling and mine. You've got to take care of the land."

click to enlarge

Wind: The Power. The Promise. The Business.
Steve Hamm, June 26, 2008 (BusinessWeek)

WHO
Pete Ferrell, 4th-generation Kansas rancher, “father of Kansas wind farming”; Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson and Rod Bremby, Secretary of Health and Environment; Sunflower Electric Power (Earl Watkins, CEO)

WHAT
Kansas has become a central battleground in the fight between Old (dirty) Energy (especially coal) and New Energy, especially wind. Far more than the fate of the state’s current political leaders – who are leading the charge for New Energy – is at stake.


AWWI - a powerful statement of wind energy's commitment to build a New Energy infrastrucutre the right way - is expected to speed wind development. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
- 1888: Pete Ferrell’s great-grandfather founded Ferrell Ranch
- 2005: Ferrell’s Elk River Wind Project began producing electricity.
- 2007: U.S. wind energy capacity rose 45%.
- 2012: U.S. wind energy capacity is expected to triple.

WHERE
- The Ferrell Ranch and some of Kansas’ riches wind assets are in the Flint Hills of southeastern Kansas but western Kansas also has ample wind resources.
- In the U.S., there are 25,000+ turbines with a 17-gigawatt capacity, the power for 4-and-a-half million homes.

WHY
- The Elk River Wind Project has 100 turbines and a 150-megawatt capacity.
- Kansas farmers and ranchers typically earn $2000/year on turbines built on their property. The money is earned as land leases since there is no legal precedent for wind ownership.
- Challenges facing wind: Rural Midwestern resources will require huge new transmission systems to deliver the power generated to population centers. Huge offshore resources are more costly and time consuming to develop.
- The Sebelius administration took a principled stand that new coal-fired power generation was unacceptable under laws the Bush administration’s EPA has refused to face. As a
- Until this year, wind development in Kansas lagged dramatically behind states like Texas with comparable wind resources.
- The cost of new transmission development is estimated at $1.5 million/mile. Approval of new projects often requires as much as 4 years. Kansas needs new transmission to support its wind development. The cost to build transmission to get the Midwest’s wind to the rest of the U.S. is estimated at $20 billion.
- Sunflower is pushing ahead with its effort to build new coal plants in western Kansas.

A boom is coming to the heartlands. It may require a fight. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Mark Lawlor, project manager, Horizon Wind Energy: "[Pete Ferrell] has been a great spokesman for wind in Kansas…He has lived off the land, and he's found something new he can tap into."
- Joseph L. Welch, CEO, transmission developer ITC Holdings: "The [transmission approval] process just doesn't work…"
- Earl Watkins, CEO, Sunflower Electric Power: "[Having the state reject the proposed coal plant on environmental grounds is] like being pulled over and ticketed by a policeman for running a stop sign—and there's no stop sign there,"
- Pete Ferrell: "I learned my lessons in the Flint Hills. [Wind opponents] beat me up good. Now I know how to get things done…"