Texas Parks & Wildlife, Volume 67, Number 10, October 2009 Page: 26
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FROM TEXAS TO
CANADA, THE
MIDWEST WIND
CORRIDOR IS HOME
TO SOME OF THE
WORLD'S
STRONGEST AND
MOST CONSISTENT
AIR CURRENTS."
-THEIR TALES MAY NEVER have survived
had it not been for biographer J. Evetts Haley's
1936 book Charles Goodnight: Cowman and Plainsman.
The cattle drive stories that Haley recorded from
Goodnight ended with the barbed-wire fencing
of the West. But the writer's grandson, Jeff Haley,
a fifth-generation cattleman east of Pampa, now
sees a new economic endeavor approaching from
just over the southern horizon. As cattle drives
and their ensuing ranches closed the bison's
range, wind energy may doom another Great
Plains species - the lesser prairie-chicken.
In May 2008, the U.S. Department of Ener-
gy issued a report outlining how wind farms
could produce 20 percent of the country's elec-
tricity by 2030. As domestic wind energy cur-
rently produces just over I percent of total U.S.
power grid capacity, the projected goal would
fuel massive industry growth, producing an esti-
mated 18o,ooo new jobs. The United States is
looking to the Great Plains for its wind market
future. From Texas to Canada, the Midwest wind
corridor is home to some of the world's strongest
and most consistent air currents.
Realizing wind energy's economic potential,
Texas has been aggressive in its development.
With more than 8,ooo installed megawatts of
wind energy, the Lone Star State has established
itself as the wind corridor's foundation. Interna-
tional energy companies like Shell and BP are
attracted by the state's generous tax incentives,
few siting restrictions and lack of environmen-
tal regulations on development.
The state government enacted legislation to
create "Competitive Renewable Energy Zones,"
or CREZs, to fast-track wind energy develop-
ment and the construction of transmission lines
necessary to move large amounts of wind ener-
gy. Lines will run from the five CREZs, located
in windy West Texas and the Panhandle, to urban
centers located within the Electricity Reliability
Council of Texas. As the nation's only energy
grid completely contained within state borders,
ERCOT enjoys substantial autonomy from fed-
eral oversight. The Texas Public Utility Commis-
sion plans for transmission line construction to
begin in 2011.
"Being the new kid on the block and displac-
ing other energy sources, wind is sometimes crit-
icized," says Paul Sadler, a Democrat who served
in the Texas House from 1991 to 2003. He now
heads the Wind Coalition, a nonprofit associa-
tion designed to promote wind energy develop-
ment in eight states, including Texas. Sadler's
office overlooks an Austin skyline jagged with
construction towers.
"If you're of the opinion that burning fossil
fuels and relying on foreign oil are creatingproblems for us, then you have to develop
renewables," he says. "To do that, you have to get
it to the market. [CREZ] was very forward-
thinking and progressive."
The rapid growth of renewable energy pro-
duction in Texas is a direct result of Senate Bill
7, passed by the Texas legislature in 1999 and
signed by then-Governor George W. Bush. The
bill established the state's first renewable energy
portfolio standard. Traditional energy genera-
tors entered into contracts with wind farm devel-
opers, kick-starting the industry and establishing
a new state commodity for fiscal growth. Devel-
opment has far exceeded the bill's projected lev-
els and is more aggressive than the federal
Obama-Biden Energy Plan.
Like oil and gas families with generations of
wealth based on fossil fuels, property owners
with good wind potential may receive royalties
from energy sold. But unlike oil, a finite
resource, wind can be utilized from generation
to generation into perpetuity. For a dry land
farmer scraping by from year to year, an extra
$70,000 to $100,000 from wind energy
income may mean the difference between selling
and keeping the land.
Even with frequently granted tax abatements,
wind farms generate millions in tax revenue, ben-
efit local school districts and create new jobs.
Wind is an energy source that creates no emis-
sions and requires virtually no water after its access
roads have been built (a key issue considering the
Panhandle's depleting Ogallala Aquifer).
The Texas State Data Center projects that the
state's current population will more than double
by 2035. Residents will need all the energy pos-
sible. The only way to curtail energy resource
development is for state residents to lessen their
usage habits.
While renewables receive federal produc-
tion tax credits, almost all forms of energy
receive federal tax incentives. A state's diverse
renewable energy portfolio holds down prices
on other sources.
Despite wind energy's positive traits, the state's
lack of regulations is having unknown repercus-
sions on its wildlife. Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department (TPWD) manages the state's fish
and wildlife resources but has no formal regula-
tory authority over development projects. As a
result, the agency must encourage wind develop-
ers to embrace voluntary siting guidelines in
order to attenuate possible impacts to wildlife. In
some cases, the agency has received high levels of
cooperation and in others it has not.
Kathy Boydston, TPWD's program leader for
the Wildlife Habitat Assessment Program, says
that, at best, 40 percent of wind energy develop-26 * OCTOBER 2009
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Texas. Parks and Wildlife Department. Texas Parks & Wildlife, Volume 67, Number 10, October 2009, periodical, October 2009; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth641673/m1/30/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.