Wind Power Could Grow With Power Transmission Expansion Plan in Texas
by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 07.18.08
photo: Getty Images
Wind power supporters in Texas have been calling for transmission expansion for some time. And though I can’t imagine they planned the juxtaposition, Texas utility regulators have approved a massive expansion of power transmission capacity on the same day that Al Gore has called for expansion of U.S. power transmission infrastructure, to facilitate renewable energy growth.
Under the $5 billion scheme, whose financing could add up to $4 per month to Texans’ electric bills, transmission lines sufficient to accommodate about 18,500 MW of, presumably, wind power will be built. Not that there is that much wind power capacity in development, but when it gets built the ability to bring it from West Texas to the Dallas-San Antonio-Houston corridor will be there.
Texas already leads the U.S. in wind capacity and is expected to have 9,000 MW of installed capacity by the end of the year. If the full transmission capacity of the plan is utilized, about 3 million average Texas homes could be powered by clean electricity.
via :: Reuters
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I suspect Al might have had an idea that Texas was going to vote on improving it's grid.
In any event, the electricity grid does need improved, and Al's plan is the only obvious one available. 10 years may be a bit ambitious, but if it takes 2X that long, it is still a great plan. Once implemented, a goal becomes easier to reach. The 20 year plan to reach the moon took only 8 years to accomplish.