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Wind power hits Texas record
Fuel Fix ^ | March 28, 2014 | Emily Pickrell

Posted on 03/28/2014 1:24:37 PM PDT by thackney

New West Texas transmission lines helped Lone Star wind power reach new gusty heights, hitting a record of more than 10,000 megawatts of generation late Wednesday night.

The new West Texas transmission lines – with the unwieldy name of Competitive Renewable Energy Zone lines – cost the state almost $7 billion by the time they were completed last December, but are expected to earn their keep, giving the state the ability to nearly double its use of wind energy.

“These Texas wind records were made possible by the completion of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone transmission lines earlier this year,” said Michael Goggin, the transmission expert for the American Wind Energy Association in a written statement “These power lines connect world-class wind energy resource areas in West Texas and the Texas Panhandle to electricity demand centers in other parts of the state.”

Wind generation accounted for nearly 30 percent of the 35,768 megawatts of electricity at its peak that evening, and made up nearly 40 percent the following morning, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

One megawatt is enough electricity to power about 200 homes during periods when electric use is highest and about 500 homes during mild weather when less electricity is being consumed.

The new record beats a prior one earlier this month by more than 600 megawatts, and is also the record for wind generation in any U.S. power system.

The new West Texas transmission lines, an almost $7 billion investment completed last December, are expected to allow the state to nearly double its use of wind energy, Goggin said.

The Texas grid has more than 11,000 Megawatts of commercial wind power capacity, as well as an additional 8,000 megawatts of projects in development and another 26,700 megawatts under study, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the grid for about 90 percent of the state.

Wind power made up 9.9 percent of the total energy used in the Texas region in 2013, up from 9.2 percent in 2012.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: electricity; energy; wind
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1 posted on 03/28/2014 1:24:37 PM PDT by thackney
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2 posted on 03/28/2014 1:25:49 PM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney
OK; is wind power worth it or not?
3 posted on 03/28/2014 1:29:20 PM PDT by henkster (I don't like bossy women telling me what words I can't use.)
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To: thackney

The fact that you can build new transmission lines anywhere today is remarkable. Wind may work well with combined cycle generation as the combustion turbine can get to 100% power in a few minutes when the wind dies down.

Not surprised it is in Texas which has become the last holdout for the American economic system.


4 posted on 03/28/2014 1:33:29 PM PDT by cicero2k
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To: thackney

They also should report the tens of thousands of birds (eagles and hawks included) and bats these monstrosities have killed. Woe be to the oil producer who has an oil spill or tank uncovered and a bird finds its way to his location. $10,000 fine, automatic.


5 posted on 03/28/2014 1:33:44 PM PDT by CedarDave (John Bolton comparing Kerry to Putin: "A cupcake negotiating with a steak knife.")
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To: henkster

There are places where it may make sense, and places where it doesn’t. It’s just not viable for anything other than a supplemental source of power on a large scale.


6 posted on 03/28/2014 1:34:32 PM PDT by rottndog ('Live Free Or Die' Ain't just words on a bumber sticker...or a tagline.)
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To: thackney
hitting a record of more than 10,000 megawatts of generation late Wednesday night.

And today?
7 posted on 03/28/2014 1:37:29 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: thackney

it’s quite a sight to seem them out in west Texas. Didn’t ever realize just how big those things are.


8 posted on 03/28/2014 1:37:37 PM PDT by 12th_Monkey (One man one vote is a big fail, when the "one" man is an idiot.)
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To: cripplecreek

Lets just say on Wednesday the wind was blowing shingles off house’s in Howard county.


9 posted on 03/28/2014 1:41:04 PM PDT by Dusty Road
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To: henkster

No, it’s not. It is expensive beyond anything else, unreliable (the wind doesn’t always blow), and fully dependent on Government subsidies to make it even barely viable. Not to mention its deleterious effects on wildlife and plain ruination of many beautiful areas now blighted by eyesores.

Wind Power is a worthless waste. A green scam like all the rest.


10 posted on 03/28/2014 1:42:19 PM PDT by BrewingFrog (I brew, therefore I am!)
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To: 12th_Monkey

There was a time when I could sit on the back part of the ranch and not see a one. Now I count over 300 close and on the horizon.


11 posted on 03/28/2014 1:43:06 PM PDT by Dusty Road
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To: BrewingFrog

I agree and when they break down or require a fix they usually just sit there and rust. Isn’t that the case often in California? How long to recoup 7 billion plus upkeep and labor and anything else and they never get out of the red. No sense at all.


12 posted on 03/28/2014 1:47:43 PM PDT by Sheapdog (Chew the meat, spit out the bones - FUBO - Come and get me)
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To: henkster

Of course it’s worth it, but the thing is, you have to get government out of the electric generation business and then start demanding rate cuts after a specific amount of time since government and the utilities don’t make or generate the wind.


13 posted on 03/28/2014 1:47:47 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: BrewingFrog

“No, it’s not. It is expensive beyond anything else, unreliable (the wind doesn’t always blow), and fully dependent on Government subsidies to make it even barely viable. Not to mention its deleterious effects on wildlife and plain ruination of many beautiful areas now blighted by eyesores.”

And Texas, of all places is falling for such a scam that not only rips off the taxpayers of Texas, but cuts into the profits of oil and gas companies based in the Lone Star State.

How on earth, you have to wonder, did the Texas Legislature and Governor fall for the wind power scam?


14 posted on 03/28/2014 1:48:30 PM PDT by Oliviaforever
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To: henkster
OK; is wind power worth it or not?

No! Without taxpayer subsidies these endeavors would never see the light of day.

Fossil fuels are much more efficient at delivering our needed energy needs. We have many 100s of years of easily accessible energy.

If wind power and solar power had to succeed strictly in the marketplace then 99.9% of all the evil Green garbage would disappear.

15 posted on 03/28/2014 1:50:04 PM PDT by sand88 (We can never legislate our way back to Liberty)
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To: cicero2k

For perfect reliability, you just need a gas turbine to power a big fan in front of each wind turbine.


16 posted on 03/28/2014 1:50:35 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: henkster

Yes it’s definitely worth it.


17 posted on 03/28/2014 1:51:36 PM PDT by DungeonMaster (No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.)
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To: henkster

The only way I can see the wind thing working is if there were some way to capture the energy NOT being used, and store it until its needed.

But they dont make batteries that big, do they?


18 posted on 03/28/2014 1:54:06 PM PDT by Vermont Lt (If you want to keep your dignity, you can keep it. Period........ Just kidding, you can't keep it.)
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To: Oliviaforever

Look to your state economic development fund/agency/bureau etc. The green energy scams have found a ready source of funding in them.


19 posted on 03/28/2014 1:54:55 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

“For perfect reliability, you just need a gas turbine to power a big fan in front of each wind turbine.”
*********************************************************************

Or a bunch of new well-paid federal employees (with an appropriate number of supporting managers, executives and union officials) sitting on a platform in front of the turbine “fanning” it.


20 posted on 03/28/2014 1:54:57 PM PDT by House Atreides
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