Posted on 04/03/2008 1:20:21 PM PDT by JDinAustin
AUSTIN -- Texas ratepayers could be on the hook for $3 billion to $6.4 billion to build new transmission lines so wind-power turbines can connect to the state power grid, according to preliminary estimates released Wednesday.
The eye-popping cost projections by operators of the Texas power grid could equate to as much as $320 for every man, woman and child getting power from the grid, although the impact on individual bills remains unclear.
The money would be used to build lines that theoretically would encourage more wind-power development in the Panhandle and West Texas.
Wind-power advocates say the potential expense could be a bargain, saying that besides leading to cleaner air, the expensive new transmission lines will pay for themselves because of the zero fuel costs associated with wind power.
"There is no question that adding more wind energy to the grid will reduce the overall cost of energy to ratepayers, particularly as fossil-fuel prices increase," said Ned Ross, director of regulatory affairs for FPL Energy, the state's largest wind-energy provider.
But skeptics say consumers should watch their pocketbooks. They say that the giant price tag will get coupled with additional hidden costs and that much of the benefit from lower fuel costs will go to energy companies and not ratepayers.
"Anytime you're spending several billion dollars, that should be cause for concern for consumers," said Thomas Brocato, an attorney representing Fort Worth and other North Texas municipalities in utility matters.
Landowners could also lose thousands of miles of property through eminent-domain proceedings.
The projected expenditures are largely associated with the legal and regulatory cost of acquiring such right of way, along with the price of the big latticework transmission towers and wires needed to move power from the far reaches of the state.
The new cost estimates were released Wednesday as part of an extensive study on wind power by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the quasi-governmental organization that operates the state's power grid. ERCOT conducted the study as part of its implementation of Senate Bill 20, a 2005 law calling for special zones where the construction of transmission lines would potentially encourage wind-power development.
The ERCOT study describes five different scenarios and outlines the cost of construction within each scenario.
It also examines the potential location of new lines and spells out other engineering and technical details.
The study now goes to the Public Utility Commission, which will select a scenario within months and then sign off on a transmission construction plan within about a year, a spokesman said.
The price tags for the five scenarios are $2.95 billion, $3.78 billion, $4.83 billion, $5.46 billion and $6.38 billion.
The costs would be divided up among all ratepayers in ERCOT through a fee attached to bills and paid off over several years.
The least-expensive scenario could lead to 5,150 megawatts of additional wind power and would require about 1,600 miles of new transmission lines.
A single megawatt provides enough power for 500 to 700 households under typical operating conditions.
The most-expensive plan could be sufficient for 17,956 additional megawatts and require more than 3,000 miles of new transmission lines.
Public Utility Commission spokesman Terry Hadley said the agency's three commissioners will try to ensure that ratepayers get a good deal. He said the transmission construction could be complete within about five years.
"The commission will most likely begin reviewing this at their open meeting next week, and the cost is a large concern," Hadley said.
Wind-power advocates say the new transmission lines could pay for themselves because the cheaper wind power will replace more expensive power generated by fossil fuels. Ross of FPL Energy also said that the new transmission lines will serve other electric generators besides wind and that the state needs to invest in new lines to serve its growing population.
But critics have raised war- ning flags, noting that no state agency has undertaken an overall review of the relative merits and costs of pursuing alternative clean-air strategies.
Jeff Pollock, an expert testifying on behalf of a group of Texas industrial customers, told the PUC earlier that "what is known is higher transmission and [other] charges associated with new wind generation will increase the electricity costs paid by all consumers."
With almost 5,000 megawatts of existing generation, Texas leads the nation in wind power. ERCOT said wind generation would leap to 12,000 to 24,000 megawatts, depending upon which scenario the PUC selects.
However, because of the intermittent nature of wind, ERCOT depends on only about 8.7 percent of capacity when determining available power during summer peak hours.
Drop in the bucket if a tax was levied onto the many oil companies headquartered in TX.
Just heard on CAVUTO show that Texas and Tulsa are doing great, no housing crunch here. Austin, Houston, Dallas were in the top ten recently for new people moving into the cities from other states. Houston is a veritable boom town, if you don’t go there for two weeks, and then you go to Houston, you may get lost, so much construction on roads, freeways, highways... so many new shops, houses, restaurants, etc. It is dizzying. So please DO NOT MOVE HERE, WE DO NOT WANT TO BECOME ANOTHER LOS ANGELES! WE have enough people here already!
We get it up the ying-yang here in Texas for electricity. One of the highest in the nation per kwh.
“Cheaper wind power”??? This guy has not checked the price of green power in Texas.
This is a gold-plated boondoggle that will line the pockets of the usual Fat Cats with money from utility customers.
Wind power is fine, if it is used where it is generated. Let the consumers in Central and East Texas stay on the natural-gas-powered grid, while the Coastal and Plains consumers go on wind power. That is the only sensible solution, certainly not saddling consumers with another expensive surcharge on their electric bills.
That blows.
you will pay for it and like it
I had a meeting with a Billionaire last week that is working on an alternative energy plan. He said a couple problems with Wind energy.
1st. it is more than double the cost because you have to have regular energy producing plants that back up the wind plant because when the wind stops you can’t just tell your customers... sorry no electricity the wind has stopped.
2nd, The wind tends to stop on hot days, Just when you need the power.... to run all the air conditioners ... because there is no wind... etc...
No kidding. Also, Austin dropped out of the South Texas Nuclear project "because it was environmentally unfriendly" for the hippies.
Hey, at least it will give the illegals something to hang their clotheslines on.
Why would you tax oil companies to pay for electric lines?
We are trying to build some big coal plants here in Kansas to sell you Texans some nice cheap electricity but our governor is holding things up.
Wind and solar power will never be more than an adjunct to main power systems, and then only where it’s feasible. Geothermal would probably be a better way to go for a long term solution. Nuclear even better. Unless the science can come up with a new and less costly way of turning water into hydrogen and oxygen, our energy needs will not be met any time soon...........
IIRC, reliability on wind power is spotty at best. They break a lot. That means lots of down time, lots of maintenance costs, and lots of replacement power costs.
As for the profits, that goes to the stockholders. If they’re getting a boon from the guv’mint, now might be a good time to buy stock.
I don’t want windpower. I want coal and nuclear plants as far as the eye can see!!!! Why can’t they engage their brains and get rid of all this PC crap...
ENRON WIND owned by ENRON.
link to the study: http://www.ercot.com/news/presentations/2007/CREZ-11-02-07_public.pdf
Shell, TXU and T. Boone Pickens [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1975560/posts?] are talking large projects up in the Panhandle area. The King Ranch and the Kenedy Ranch [http://www.chiefengineer.org/content/content_display.cfm/seqnumber_content/3058.htm] are in a squabble down Corpus Christi way about a large farm proposed on the Kenedy Ranch. Texas has the potential for huge wind farms but many aren’t in densely populated areas.
Sounds like typical t-Bone Pickens politics.
The Fat Cats have names and Mr. Pickens is on that tiny list...
We are trying to build some big coal plants here in Kansas to sell you Texans some nice cheap electricity but our governor is holding things up
That’s part of the problem. ERCOT doesn’t like being connected to other grids outside of Texas and thus coming under the FERC rule. Currently ERCOT is Texas only with no control by FERC.
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