Climate and energy

And the answer basically seems to be – if we didn’t have such a rocking wind resource (third in the nation), then – yep – wind developers might think twice about building here. But, we’ve got the wind. Problem – we ain’t got the transmission.

Yet. At the Kansas wind conference this past September I seem to recall Chairman and KETA founder Carl Holmes promising to keep a close eye on the KCC transmission docket, the ITC Great Plains v. Westar thing. He strikes me as a gentleman who keeps his promises, so we will see.

At any rate – reprinted in full from Harris News.

Financial crunch not expected to crimp state’s wind power boom

By Chris Green

TOPEKA — Advocates remain optimistic that the state’s efforts to boost wind energy production won’t be blown off-course by a more challenging financial environment.

Across the country and in Kansas, the development of wind energy has been proceeding at a record-setting pace, according to state and wind energy officials.

In recent weeks, though, energy experts have also noted that a squeeze in credit and collapsing oil and natural gas prices, both byproducts of a worldwide financial crisis, could stifle the further growth of renewable energy.

Industry observers and companies operating in the state, however, say the chances are good that the production of wind power will keep growing in Kansas.

Rob Freeman, chief executive officer of TradeWind Energy, said that while he’s concerned about the credit crunch, he said his company plans to push ahead with its developments in Kansas.

Freeman, whose company is developing the Smoky Hills Wind Farm west of Salina, said he guesses that other companies will be doing the same.

“I think in the long-term view, the opportunity for Kansas is the same that it was five or six months ago,” Freeman said.

Steve Gaw, a spokesman for The Wind Coalition based in Austin, Texas, said wind developers will likely face similar difficulties in securing financing for their projects that other industries face with banks more reluctant to lend.

However, Gaw said he believes that other trends that have gained steam over the last year would work in the favor of wind power in the coming years.

“I would also imagine that the type of push we would likely see for more independence on energy, trying to address environmental issues and other things will work as a strong counterbalance to that,” said Gaw, whose nonprofit group of wind project developers, interest groups and component manufacturers promotes investment in the industry.

The American Wind Energy Association reported last month that the nation’s wind industry was on pace to break last year’s record for installation, 5,249 megawatts. In Kansas, officials expect the state’s wind farms to be producing 1,013 megawatts of electricity, up from the 364 megawatts being churned out at the beginning of the year.

But The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio, among others, have all recently reported about concerns that the worldwide financial crisis will put a crimp in wind power’s explosive growth.

Tighter credit markets could make it more difficult for wind developers to secure financing for their projects. Plus,lower natural gas prices could give utilities less incentive to invest in wind turbines, some renewable energy boosters fear.

But Gaw said that Kansas was better positioned than most other states to weather any potential storm, largely because of state’s potential for producing wind energy.

Kansas ranks third in the nation in wind power potential and The Wind Coalition has suggested that the state is capable of producing up to 10,000 megawatts of wind energy in the coming decades.

“The thing that I would expect to see is that there would be more selective use of where you invest,” Gaw said.

Still for wind power to grow further in Kansas, Gaw said the state also will likely need to see the development of new transmission lines to carry electricity out from wind farms set up in western Kansas.

One project which could do that, a series of V-shaped, high-voltage lines through southwest Kansas, is presently before the state utility regulators.

The Kansas Corporation is mulling proposals from a transmission-only utility, ITC Great Plains, and a venture of the state’s largest investor-owned utility, Topeka-based Westar Energy, competing for the project. ITC Great Plains also plans to build a 180-mile high voltage line from Spearville to Axtell, Neb.

Carl Huslig, president of ITC Great Plains, said his company has received assurances from major banks and doesn’t expect to have any problems financing the two projects it wants to build in Kansas because of the credit crunch.

“We still see an extreme need for transmission and to provide a robust grid,” Huslig said.

— Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org