Roth: There’s an energy windfall to be had
By Jim Roth | April 11, 2011
The Department of Energy measures more than 900,000 megawatts of electricity-generating wind capacity off the coast of the United States. To place that in perspective, Oklahoma has 5,729 MW of coal-fired capacity and 14,793 MW of gas-fired capacity.
In October of 2010, Energy Management Inc. signed a lease with Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to construct 130 wind turbines in the Nantucket Sound off the coast of Massachusetts. This will become the country’s first offshore wind farm.
These wind turbines and structures are going to be spaced out in such a way that it won’t interfere with shallow fishing, the marine life, and ecosystems in the area. The project has received the support of several nongovernmental organizations, businesses and government agencies.
To evaluate the economy of this project, it is not a surprise that developing wind farms off the coast of the United States comes with a regulatory cost. In fact, Energy Management Inc. waited close to 10 years to clear the regulatory hurdles necessary. Plus, constructing on the ocean is generally more expensive because the marine-based instruments and equipment needed come at an added cost.
However, offshore wind is not as intermittent as wind on land. Although it has been pretty windy lately in Oklahoma, one of the major concerns with wind power is the fact that it is intermittent, making it less reliable. This creates a need for technological backup solutions, as well as sufficient backup generation in the form of quickly available natural gas. The consistency and strength of wind blowing offshore, however, makes it a more dependable source of power generation than its land-based counterpart.
Oklahoma generates only about 1,000 MW of electricity from wind. Yet, many predictions are that Oklahoma has the wind capacity to produce 10 percent of the electricity needed by the United States. To get technical, the DOE states that places with an average wind speed of about 6.5 meters per second are considered to be suitable for wind development. Oklahoma, as a state, has an annual average wind speed of 8 m/s. Much of western Oklahoma is consistently above 7.4 m/s. We have an invaluable energy resource in wind.
Recently, the Southwest Power Pool, the regional utility regulatory body, approved $500 million worth of transmission lines that will move Oklahoma’s wind-generated electricity throughout the state and the region.
With all of the unrest in the Middle East and the tragic environmental cost unfolding in Japan, Oklahoma is well-poised to be a leader in making the United States more energy-independent. In fact, Oklahoma has 2.3 times more wind-producing potential per square mile than Texas. The investment, business, and job creating opportunities available as a result of Oklahoma’s wind-producing capacity would make it an economic leader. This potential, coupled with the clean-burning and readily available natural gas generation, have our state poised to be a leader for the energy future. It is time for Oklahoma to lead, rather than allow offshore developments to take the wind from our own economic “sails.”
Jim Roth, a former Oklahoma corporation commissioner, is an attorney with Phillips Murrah P.C. in Oklahoma City, where his practice focuses on clean, green energy for Oklahoma.