WANT NEW ENERGY? HERE’S HOW TO BRING IT HOME

The state of Texas leads the U.S. in wind capacity. Its tremendous wind resources certainly make developing wind energy easier but many states have comparable resources.

Texas took national dominance when some Texas leaders saw opportunity and seized it. The development of Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZs) is an example. Within the CREZs, areas designated by the Public Utility Commission as ripe for wind and transmission development, entrepreneurs have turned wind energy into a booming growth industry.

The state is not resting on its laurels. Beyond a certain point, wind cannot grow without new transmission to deliver it to population centers. All across the U.S., states have finally gotten into the wind industry boom and the solar energy expansion and have begun debating the development of new transmission. Last week, Texas picked a plan and stopped talking. It is ready to get busy building new transmission.

The Texas economy, already busy from all the activity in wind, will soon be busier with transmission development. Completing those build outs, the state will be energy-rich and emissions-free, primed for 21st century leadership.

First came the CREZs. (click to enlarge)

PUC chooses good wind plan; Plan will help meet state’s future energy needs by delivering wind-generated electricity from West Texas to urban areas

Editorial, July 20, 2008 (Austin American-Statesman)
and
Texas to bet big on wind; $4.9 billion power plan called largest in the nation
Jim Vertuno, July 18, 2008 (AP via Detroit Free Press)

WHO
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT)(Chairman Barry Smitherman, Commissioner Paul Hudson, Commissioner Julie Caruthers Parsley); Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)

WHAT
With Smitherman and Hudson voting yes and Caruthers Parsley voting no, the Texas PUC gave preliminary approval for the ERCOT Transmission Optimization Study Scenario 2 new transmission plan to deliver much more wind energy-generated electricity to Texas power consumers.

Then came the Scenarios. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
- The preliminary approval must be finalized later this year.
- The approval follows 3 years of studies by ERCOT.
- New transmission is not expected to be online for 3 to 5 years.

WHERE
The new transmission would deliver electricity generated by West Texas and Panhandle wind energy from the state’s 5 Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZs) to the state’s population centers (Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin, El Paso, etc.)

WHY
- ERCOT proposed 4 Scenarios (ranging in cost from $2.95 billion to $6.38 billion).
- The PUC chose Scenario 2 (endorsed by Austin Energy and the Lower Colorado River Authority).
- Scenario 2: 2,400 miles of transmission lines capable of carrying 18,000 megawatts.
- Cost: $4.93 billion. (Austin Energy will pay $197 million of that over 30 years.)
Ratepayers are expected to pay $4/month for the new transmission
- Environmentalists had pushed for a more elaborate and expensive plan. Conservatives who distrust wind’s supposed intermittency pushed for a minimal plan.

After that, the work. Then national energy leadership. And prosperity. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Austin American-Statesman Editorial: “…let's savor the rare instance when environmental and business interests so happily co-exist before we return to debates over coal and nuclear energy.”
- Patrick Woodson, vice president, E.On Climate & Renewables North America: "People think about oil wells and football in Texas, but in 10 years they'll look back and say this was a brilliant thing to do…"