The last two years have been tough ones for the wind energy industry, but that hasn’t stopped TradeWind Energy from forging ahead with plans for a wind farm in Garfield and Grant counties.
Rob Freeman, president of TradeWind Energy, said the industry saw dramatic growth from 2003 to 2008, then the national recession hit. He spoke Thursday at the quarterly Enid Regional Development Alliance at Oakwood Country Club.
Since 2008, the annual installed wind energy capacity is down 50 percent, he said, due to reduced electricity demands, low natural gas and power prices and no federal policy on wind energy, specifically no federal action to replace or extend industry tax credits. The last year for the tax credits is 2012, he said, and some people are predicting a difficult market, with a possible steep decline for the industry at the end of 2012.
“The last two years have been challenging, with several companies going out of business. In a bad economy, people use less power, plus low gas prices mean low power prices,” Freeman said.
Despite it all, TradeWind — created in 2003 by a Kansas City group, including Freeman — is going through with the local project, which is estimated to cost at least $350 million and produce 250 megawatts of electricity. TradeWind has contracted with Alabama Power Co. to provide electricity from the Chisholm View Wind Project TradeWind for 20 years.
The local project will create 10-15 permanent jobs and an annual payroll of $600,000 to $900,000. During construction, there will be 100-150 jobs, as well as road and bridge improvements estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Freeman said. The windmills will be located in an area between Kremlin, Hunter and Pond Creek. Former state Rep. Curt Roggow, who is a consultant for the city of Enid, said Pond Creek-Hunter Public Schools will receive the greatest economic benefit from the wind farm.
The annual increase to the local tax base is between $3 million and $4 million and annual landowner payments will be about $2 million, Freeman said. It will be the largest wind farm in Oklahoma, with from 18 to 90 turbines depending on the turbine type and final project size, Freeman said. The project will cover some 40,000 acres of land leased from 150 landowners, of which 37,000 acres currently are leased. Even with the turbines, 96 percent of the land still will be available for its current use.
Freeman predicted 2012 would be a record year for the wind power industry, as companies rush to get projects done before the tax credits expire at the end of the year. He likened that to a boom-bust economy. Due to the projected big 2012 and the policy uncertainty in the future, he said, 2013 likely will be a bad year for the industry.
“It is scary to me personally to think about the future for wind power without any government policy support. Wind is the only form of energy that doesn’t get policy support,” Freeman said.
Freeman said he hopes Congress “comes to its senses” or much potential will be lost, although in the windy Great Plains there still will be a story to tell. Coal plant retirements will create a new need for power plants, Freeman said, and new coal and nuclear plants will continue to be difficult and expensive to build. He said a natural marriage is gas and wind combined, because gas is well suited to deal with the situation when the wind is calm. He urged Oklahoma to continue to support the industry as it has with tax policy and also embrace the wind power of local communities.
Also during the meeting, ERDA President Brent Kisling, said Enid is trying new things, including a recent legislative and VIP golf tournament, which brought some industry leaders to Enid