Agricultural News
Clean Line Proposes Building Wind Energy Power Super Highway to the Southeastern US
Thu, 02 Dec 2010 6:31:31 CST
Some wind energy experts have dubbed Oklahoma as the "Saudia Arabia of Wind." Western Oklahoma is part of what Mario Hurtado of Clean Line calls a "rich vein" of wind resources that runs north and south across the middle of the United States. He calls the wind resources found in Oklahoma "huge" and that is why his company is interested in building a direct current high voltage transmission line from the Texas County area in the Oklahoma Panhandle across Oklahoma into Arkansas- ending close to Memphis, Tennessee where the wind generated power from our Panhandle would be linked to the Tennessee Valley Authority portion of the national electrical grid. This project is being called by Clean Line the Plains & Eastern Clean Line. Their website says of the project "Spanning more than 800 miles, the Plains & Eastern Clean Line will connect abundant renewable energy resources with areas that have a high demand for clean, reliable energy. The Plains & Eastern Clean Line will increase transmission system reliability, improve energy security, stimulate economic development, and reduce CO2 emissions."
Also according to the Clean Line website, they see the opportunity of moving a lot of wind power from point A to point B- "As the United States moves to obtain more of its energy from the wind and the sun, a dramatic expansion of the transmission grid is by far the most efficient way to incorporate these resources. Clean Line believes that its long-haul, high voltage, direct current, overhead lines can move renewable power from the quality resources to major load centers far more economically than the development of new generation located in areas with less favorable conditions. Clean Line does not develop generation projects. Clean Line’s only mission is to develop transmission for renewables. Clean Line is committed to working hard to meet the needs of all the stakeholders involved in transmission line siting."
Hurtado, who is the Executive Vice President of Clean Line, says they are in the process of seeking regulatory approval to move forward with this project in both Oklahoma and Arkansas. He tells us that if this line is built- it will rely on new wind farms that would be erected in the next few years. According to Hurtado, if you draw a circle of 120 miles with the center being Guymon, Oklahoma- there are over 10,000 megawatts of wind generation being discussed or under development. The Clean Line Transmission Line would be able to carry as much as 3,500 megawatts of power eastward. That's enough to provide electricity to two million homes and is the equivalent of three typical size nuclear power plants.
For Oklahoma, there are several economic benefits that Clean Line contends they will bring to Oklahoma. Farmers and land owners will get a royalty and other payments for wind farms that are built on their land. These wind farms and the transmission line will generate thousands of jobs during a two to three year period as they are constructed. Once built and operating, there will be high tech maintenance jobs around the wind farms as well as the Clean Line Transmission Line. And, in the case of the transmission line, Hurtado tells us that counties where it is placed will benefit with "significant property taxes" over the lifetime of the transmission line.
Hurtado tells us that this is a multi year process. He estimates it will take another three years to get all of the regulatory details to be lined up properly, and that will be followed with a two to three year period of building the transmission line and getting wind generation on line to be carried by this "super highway" for wind power. The power could be moving east as early as 2015 or 2016, if all the pieces fall into place. Hurtado adds that it will be some time before they become specific about the exact pathway of the line that would cross Oklahoma and go into Arkansas and head for the Mississippi River.
Regulatory hearings that were planned here in the latter days of 2010 have been postponed by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission into early 2011. Clean Line has ongoing discussions already underway with several groups of those that want more information about the project, or have already raised concerns.
We have a comprehensive conversation that we had recently with Mario Hurtado of Clean Line available for you to listen to- click on the LISTEN BAR below to learn more about this project and how it will bring Oklahoma into a more prominent role as a wind energy provider for decades to come. Click here for the Clean Line website that is specifically about this Plains & Eastern Clean Line project.
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