 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Arizona meeting promotes state wind development The Arizona Wind Working Group wants to make sure that wind energy claims its rightful place in the sun-drenched state’s renewable power portfolio. Conference sets attendance record In January, the organization and its sponsor, Northern Arizona University, hosted a day-long symposium in Tempe, Ariz., on developing the state’s wind resources. “Wind Energy in Arizona: Resource to Reality” brought together 125 representatives from state agencies, private development and utilities to look at the state’s current wind activities, potential and barriers. AzWWG holds 3/4-day working meetings and biennial education events, but this symposium was the best-attended ever. Conference Director Amanda Ormond attributes the success to good timing. “The National Wind Coordinating Committee was holding a business meeting in the hotel the next day,” she explained, “so we had great resources right there.” The goal of the conference was to raise awareness about wind energy and its benefits among Arizona’s power industry and policy makers. “The most important points are that Arizona has a developable resource, and that developing wind will be good for the state’s economy,” Ormond said. Resources, need exist Arizona has enough areas of class 3+ or higher resources to generate 22,600 MW, according to Steve Clemmer of the Union of Concerned Scientists. In his presentation, Clemmer noted that a tough renewable energy standard of 20 percent by 2020 would also bring high-skilled jobs and millions in income to the state. Job creation and economic development are critical concerns in the rural areas where most of Arizona’s resources are located. “The places that have the wind are the ones that really need the benefits,” noted Ormond. “That is going to be a major incentive for moving projects along.” John Stulp, a county commissioner from Lamar, Colo., offered the Colorado Green Wind Farm as an example of what wind development could do for a small town. Construction of the 108-turbine facility in southeastern Colorado was a $200 million investment that employed 400 workers. The wind farm created 14 to 20 full-time jobs, increased Prowers County’s assessed tax value by 33 percent and paid landowners $3,000 to $4,000 per turbine for property use. Wind development on reservations could bring many of those benefits to Native American tribes. Jaime Navenma, project manager for the Hopi Sustainable Energy Program, presented the Hopi’s long-term plan to replace the tribe’s income from the Mojave Generating Plant with renewable energy development. Panel suggests next steps The conference ended with a panel discussion where conference speakers summed up the opportunities for wind energy in Arizona and the challenges the industry faces. A developable resource coupled with the state’s growing power demand and the need for rural and tribal economic development give Arizona the basic elements to build a wind industry. The state’s renewable portfolio standard and favorable regulatory climate, as well as the Federal production tax credit, further support new development. Also, the Palo Verde hub on the west side of the state provides good access to California energy markets. On the east and north, however, Arizona is flanked by Colorado and New Mexico, states with greater wind resources. The scattered location of Arizona’s resources makes them difficult to develop. There is no overall state strategy for renewable resource development or a streamlined process to develop wind on State Trust lands. The same technical challenges that affect wind development elsewhere, such as transmission issues and the intermittent nature of the resource, also apply to Arizona. To move the state forward, panelists recommended expanding the renewable standard to 1,000 MW and creating a centralized Web resource of state-specific wind information. Stakeholders and advocates should work together to build support for wind among policy makers, they said. Launching a project in 2005 to take advantage of the production tax credit was another measure the panelists supported. Each type of renewable resource comes with a very specific set of technical, logistical and marketing challenges, and geography adds its own unique wrinkles to the equation. State-based organizations like the Arizona Wind Working Group provide a valuable forum for finding answers that will help each region make the most of all its renewable resources. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |