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Why Wind Power?
 More than 3,000 megawatts (MW) of new wind generating capacity are expected to
come on line in 2006. What are the benefits to the utilities that are
acquiring this new wind power?
Ratepayer satisfaction:
--Wind power helps keep costs predictable: once a wind farm is built, the cost
of wind power remains stable because there are no fuels price increases or
volatility.
--Wind power is affordable: the cost of natural gas and other fuels has been
going up over time. That of wind energy has come down by 80% since the
1980s, and even with recent increases (due to increases in the prices of steel,
copper and other materials due to global economic expansion) is in a range that
is competitive with new conventional power plants (levelized cost).
--No new pollution: no additional emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,
particulate matter, mercury, carbon dioxide, radioactive or toxic waste.
--Customer preference: public opinion surveys show
overwhelming support for more wind power, even if it might increase rates.
 Shareholder satisfaction:
--Insurance against environmental risk: because wind farms have zero
emissions, there are no liability risks or costs associated with SOx, NOx, CO2,
particulates, mercury and other emissions - no matter how stringent environmental
regulations may become.
--Manageable risk associated with wind's variability: with advanced anemometry,
the output from a wind farm over time can be accurately predicted within defined
margins of uncertainty - with long-term wind forecasting for wind power more
accurate than for hydro resources. Short-term forecasting of output is
improving rapidly and reduces the cost of integrating wind power into the
electric system.
--Modest, manageable system integration costs: experience and studies show such
costs range from $5/MWh to zero beyond the integration costs that are the norm
for conventional technologies. The level varies with size of region, type
of tariff, transmission capacity, flexibility of other generation sources, and
level of penetration.
--Availability of production tax credit: utilities that own wind power projects
can reduce their tax liability by using the production tax credit of 1.9 cents
per kWh for wind energy - the credit is available over the first ten years of
operation of a wind farm.
--Positive branding: investment in wind power brands a utility as responsible
regarding the environment (wind is a zero-emissions technology), national
security (wind farms are not a likely terrorist target), energy independence
(wind farms help to reduce imports of natural gas or other fuels used for
electricity generation), and the economic development of rural America (wind
energy development revitalizes rural farming and ranching communities).
Operational advantages:
--No fuel resource extraction, transportation and combustion
issues. Wind power has one of the highest energy payback ratios of any power
technology - higher than natural gas and coal, and even nuclear
http://www.ofes.fusion.doe.gov/News/Socioeconomictalks/FusionsPerspectives2.ppt
--No water resource issues: to generate the same amount of electricity as a
single 1.5-MW wind turbine using either fossil fuels or nuclear technology
requires, on average, use of roughly 90 million gallons of water a year for
cooling purposes, of which nearly 1.5 million gallons is lost to evaporation.
This feature is particularly valuable in areas where water use is a growing
issue.
--No pollution control and waste management issues: wind power is a
zero-emissions technology.
--Predictable fuel price: the cost of fuel in a coal or natural gas plant in
five years or even next year is uncertain. The cost for fuel at a wind plant is
always known to be "0".
--Operational synergy with natural gas, hydropower: wind power can help conserve
natural gas and hydro resources, and these in turn can serve as "storage" and
make it easier to integrate wind power into a given electrical system.
--Wind farms can be built in a few months' time, once wind
resource assessment and permitting is in place.
--With new wind energy grid code standards, wind power can
contribute to low voltage ride-through, and contribute reactive power and
voltage control.
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