Oklahoma, Denise Bode says, has over 80,000 megawatts of potential wind power at its disposal.
“It’s a no-brainer,” Bode said several times Thursday, about bringing wind energy companies to northwest Oklahoma.
Bode, CEO of American Wind Energy Association, along several other wind energy company representatives, spoke at a special forum Thursday morning at the James W. Strate Center for Business Development. The purpose of the forum was to spread awareness about the potential of wind energy in Garfield County, while promoting the Kites Over Enid event, which would occur in the early afternoon.
Several representatives from other companies spoke about the potential to bring things like transmission lines and wind turbine manufacturing jobs to Enid, and all seemed very optimistic about the opportunity.
Frank Costanza, vice president of TradeWind Energy in Lenexa, Kan., said the company is even developing a project in northern Garfield County and southern Grant County that could provide a supply of power to 100,000 homes.
That project would create 10 to 15 high-paying jobs and 100 to 150 construction jobs as well.
Shalini Ramanathan, vice president of RES-Americas, also said her company was looking into projects in Garfield and Noble counties.
Other speakers at the wind forum included Jay Caspary, director of transmission development at Southwest Power Pool; Michael Skelly, CEO of Clean Line Energy in Houston; and Brent Kisling, executive director of the Enid/Garfield County Development Alliance.
Kisling has been particularly supportive of bringing wind turbine manufacturing jobs to Enid and Garfield County.
“We believe here in Enid we have the potential to do assembly for some of the turbines out (around Woodward),” Kisling said.
Bode also was strongly in favor of bringing more manufacturing jobs to the area. If the state follows renewable energy systems legislation and guidelines, she noted in a presentation, it would save Oklahoma consumers $2.18 billion by 2025.
“I would tell manufacturers looking for a site to check (out) Oklahoma,” she said.