Green Bay Press-Gazette - <B>PRO: Wind is on its way = as a powerful resource</B>

Posted Aug.=20 07, 2005

PRO: Wind is on its way as a powerful=20 resource

About the controversy
The ever-deepening controversy over = wind-power=20 expansion in Wiscon sin is making for some = strange=20 political bedfellows.
When a proposal to build 133 wind turbines = near the=20 Horicon Marsh heated up earlier this year,=20 environmentalists were found rallying against=20 alternative energy.
At the same time, the huge project spanning = Dodge and=20 Fond du Lac counties saw bedrock Republican = farmers=20 leaning left to support wind turbines that would = bring=20 them subsidies.
They all joined hands in opposition to the = giant=20 windmills.=20
The Wisconsin Public Service Commission = granted=20 permission to Forward Energy in July to go ahead = with=20 the most aggressive wind-power project in = Wisconsin.=20 Construction is expected to begin this fall = across=20 32,400 acres of the towns of Oakfield, Lomira, = LeRoy and=20 Byron in Fond du Lac and Dodge counties.
The 133 wind turbines at the Forward Wind = Energy=20 Center will generate 200 megawatts of = electricity,=20 enough to provide power to 100,000 residential = customers=20 =97 or a city about the size of Green Bay.=20
That output compares to the existing 55 wind = turbines=20 on five Wisconsin wind farms, producing 53 = megawatts of=20 electricity. About half of the windmills in the = state=20 are in the Green Bay Press-Gazette readership = area:
=95 Green Bay-based Wisconsin Public Service = Corp.=20 built two wind generators in 1998 in the town of = Glenmore in Brown County, producing 1.2 = megawatts of=20 power.
=95 WPS built 14 wind generators in the = Kewaunee County=20 town of Lincoln in 1999, producing 9.2 megawatts = of=20 power.
=95 Madison Gas & Electric Co. built 17 = wind=20 generators in the Kewaunee County towns of = Lincoln and=20 Red River in 1999, producing 11.2 megawatts of = power.
Proponents of wind farms say alternative = energy=20 sources have untapped potential to provide clean = power=20 for the future. They embrace the sleek, often = huge=20 towers and blades that harness the wind=92s = energy.=20
Wind-power critics argue the generators are=20 inefficient, unsightly and dangerous. In the = case of the=20 Horicon Marsh project, they contend that the = whirring=20 blades will slaughter migratory birds. They also = say=20 area residents could be hurt by blade mishaps, = tower=20 collapses or ice thrown from the blades.=20
Opponents are attacking proposed wind farms = on all=20 fronts. They recently won a victory in Manitowoc = County,=20 where the County Board enacted a one-year ban on = wind=20 generators.
Whether approval of the Horicon project means = a=20 further proliferation of wind farms in = Northeastern=20 Wisconsin remains to be=20 = seen.

By=20 Michael Vickerman

Two=20 recent decisions by the state=92s utility commission and its = largest=20 electric utility offer strong evidence that wind power has = entered=20 Wisconsin=92s energy mainstream.=20

The Public Service Commission approved in July a = 200-megawatt=20 installation in Fond du Lac and Dodge counties that will, = when=20 placed in service next year, quintuple the output of the = state=92s=20 existing fleet of wind turbines. The electricity generated = from the=20 Forward Wind Project=92s 133 turbines will be sold to four = Wisconsin=20 utilities, including Green Bay-based Wisconsin Public = Service Corp.

The PSC=92s decision came several weeks after = Milwaukee-based We=20 Energies announced that it purchased ownership rights to a = pair of=20 wind projects totaling 160 megawats, also in Fond du Lac = County. We=20 Energies=92 wind power plants are scheduled to be placed in = service in=20 2007.=20

Nearly 600 megawatts of fully permitted wind-power = projects are=20 now in Wisconsin that could be constructed as early as 2006, = and=20 more than 400 megawatts of this group are committed to = various state=20 utilities.=20

So why is wind generation transitioning from a boutique = resource=20 to a bulk power source?

Four principal factors are behind wind power=92s newfound = popularity in Wisconsin. The first is that it is more easily = scalable than other sources of renewable power, even hydro. = It is=20 not a difficult matter to add wind farms in increments = comparable to=20 gas-fired peaking plants.

Second, wind power, with current federal tax credits, is = now less=20 expensive than natural gas-fired generating units. It makes = no=20 economic sense for utilities to burn natural gas at any time = when=20 wind power is available.=20

Third, whether a utility owns a wind-power plant or buys=20 electricity from it, the price of that power is fixed, = because the=20 energy itself does not carry a cost. That is the principal = economic=20 virtue of a generation source that uses a free fuel that = will not=20 deplete over the installation=92s operating life. Utilities = are now=20 recognizing wind power=92s hedging value against escalating = costs of=20 coal and natural gas.=20

In the case of We Energies, it plans to invest = shareholder=20 dollars into wind power in part because it is the least = risky=20 generation option from a financial perspective. Indeed, wind = is by=20 far the safest energy choice available for preventing = pollution. If,=20 in the future, financial penalties are imposed on power = plants that=20 emit undesirable gases into the air or damaging thermal = plumes in=20 the water, wind farms would be exempt from them.=20

Fourth, unlike coal, petroleum and natural gas, wind is a = locally=20 available power source. Utilities serving Wisconsin need not = import=20 the fuel from elsewhere to generate electricity from it. = Harnessing=20 wind energy results in a larger share of energy dollars = remaining in=20 state, which can be redirected to rural landowners and = communities=20 hosting turbines.=20

The Forward Project provides a telling example of how = these=20 dollars are recirculated in the local economy. Each year the = host=20 local governments =97 four townships and two counties =97 = will reap an=20 aggregate of $800,000 in local aids. The developer also will = pay out=20 more than $500,000 a year in rent to property owners. Area=20 contractors and construction workers will grade the roads, = dig and=20 pour the foundations, and provide the concrete and steel. = One-half=20 an acre per turbine is taken out of agricultural production.

In the six years since the first turbines in Wisconsin = were=20 erected, wind power has become the energy source that = utilities and=20 their customers cannot afford to do without.

Michael Vickerman is executive director of RENEW = Wisconsin, a=20 nonprofit organization advocating clean power and = sustainable energy=20 practices.