Interstate wind power transmission on the rise
KCET // Oct 16, 2012
Shepherds Flat Wind Farm in Oregon and Southern California Edison in California represent the latest utility-wind farm interstate partnership. Shepherds Flat's 338 GE wind turbines are producing roughly 845 megawatts of wind power for Southern California Edison. The installation, one of the largest in the world, attracted millions in corporate investment. KCET reports:
The project attracted corporate investment from Google, Sumitomo, and General Electric, the last of whom supplied the 2.5 megawatt turbines. After gaining approval for the project in 2008, Caithness began construction the next year… Caithness and SCE have signed a 20-year power purchase agreement under which the Southern California utility will buy all energy the plant provides.
The news comes on the heels of the announcement that Alabama Power will add up to 404 megawatts of wind power from Oklahoma and Kansas, and that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a $3.5 billion "wind power line" from Oklahoma to Tennessee. The trend in interstate transmission projects allows for wind power generated in windy but sparsely populated areas like eastern Oregon and Oklahoma to be used where businesses and residential consumers need it.