The AWEA Blog: Into the Wind

LBNL report: Low natural gas prices haven’t detracted from wind’s hedge appeal

Posted: 11 Mar 2013 Carl Levesque, Consultant

Even with recent declines in natural gas prices resulting from the expansion of shale gas production, wind power proves to be beneficial for its ability to give buyers long-term price certainty, a new report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) finds.

Drawing on a sizable sample of long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) between existing wind projects and utilities, the report compares wind power prices that have been contractually locked in for decades to come with a range of long-term natural gas price projections. Data from 287 PPAs totaling 23.5 gigawatts were used.

Some notable quotes from the report:

· “Adding wind power to a portfolio of generating assets will partially hedge or insulate that portfolio ...

Fact check: Oops, wind farm performance stays strong

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

There was quite a bit of ballyhoo around the anti-wind network a few weeks ago concerning a study funded by the misnamed Renewable Energy Foundation (a British anti-wind group). The study suggested there was an issue with wind turbine performance over time that would have a negative impact on wind energy's economics. We cross-posted the European Wind Energy Association's response, which described the wind turbine life span study as "propaganda," here.

Now a new analysis from energy economics and technical expert David Milborrow, a longtime contributor to the publication Windpower Monthly, has found ...

Fact check: Attack on Navigant jobs study lacks substance

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 Elizabeth Salerno, Chief Economist

Yet another series of attacks and claims have been released by clean energy opponents the American Energy Alliance and the Institute for Energy Research (both of which receive fossil fuel funding support) by way of Charles Cicchetti. This time the attack focuses on job estimates from a study completed over a year ago by nationally recognized economic consulting firm Navigant Consulting, which assessed the impact of extending the federal wind energy Production Tax Credit (PTC). (Note: The same group issuing this most recent attack also previously attacked the ...

Public opinion watch: New polls in Maryland, Ohio find voters back wind power

Posted: 06 Mar 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

In addition to a recent poll in Vermont showing strong support there for wind power, two new surveys, in Maryland and Ohio, have found public backing for the clean energy technology.

The Maryland findings come from a recent Washington Post poll, conducted February 21-24, among 1,156 respondents, on attitudes toward offshore wind power. Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed supported a plan to provide state backing for an offshore wind farm, with the cost limited to $1.50 ...

GMP reports on Kingdom Community Wind sound levels

Posted: 05 Mar 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

Investor-owned utility Green Mountain Power recently filed with the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) the results of its first monitoring of sound levels in the communities surrounding the Kingdom Community Wind farm in Lowell, Vt.

The results of the continuous monitoring showed that the project met the standards required by the PSB for all but two brief isolated time periods, the utility said. The PSB requires that sound outside nearby homes not exceed 45 decibels, which is generally the background sound of a library.

“We were pleased to demonstrate results that show the actual sounds from the wind turbines are what we expected from our modeling,” said Dorothy Schnure, GMP corporate spokesperson. “Sound monitoring will occur at four ...

California, Pacific Northwest set new wind generation records

Posted: 05 Mar 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

California and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) utility system, which covers much of the Pacific Northwest, have seen new wind generation records set in recent days.

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) reported that wind generation on its system reached a new high of 3,934 megawatts (MW) at 12:38 a.m. PST yesterday (March 4). For the full day, wind generated nearly 6 percent of the electricity on system.

The BPA record came February 22, when wind generation there peaked at 4,512 MW at 10:45 p.m. PST.

Wind-generated electricity output has hit new highs in several parts of the country in recent weeks, as the new wind farms built during last year's record wind project construction boom begin adding their ...

Wind Co-op of the Year awards showcase co-op ethos

Posted: 04 Mar 2013 Carl Levesque, Consultant

It’s no secret that cooperatives are known to be conservative decision makers, noted Gary Phan, director of education at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). Yet, he appropriately added when speaking at a recent awards event at NRECA’s TechAdvantage 2013, they’ve also acquired a reputation for having a progressive spirit and for putting the customer, or member, first.

East River Electric Cooperative of Madison, S.D., and Golden Valley Electric Association, which serves Interior Alaska, certainly showed those latter two traits through the accomplishments that garnered them 2013 Wind Cooperative of the Year honors. East River took honors in the category of generation and transmission cooperatives, while Golden Valley won in the category for ...

Fact check: WSJ goes astray on California's integration of wind

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 Michael Goggin, AWEA Manager-Transmission Policy

The Wall Street Journal carried an article yesterday by Rebecca Smith on the growth of renewable energy in California and the effect on its electric utility system. The article makes several incorrect and unsupported assertions, addressed below:

Fact #1: It is unlikely that the state will experience a shortage of flexible power by 2017.

Last year, the California Public Utilities Commission required the grid operator to examine the need for flexible capacity in four scenarios in which renewable energy provides 33% of California’s electricity, and in all four cases it found zero additional need for flexible capacity to accommodate 33% renewables. This finding was documented in a 2011 ...

Fact check: Harvard study misses real-world facts about wind power

Posted: 27 Feb 2013 Michael Goggin, AWEA Manager-Transmission Policy

A recent study errs in its assessment of potential wind energy resources by ignoring real-world data and experience and instead relying on crude theoretical modeling techniques. In reality, wind project developers and investors work closely with atmospheric scientists and other experts to make sure that their projects will produce as much as expected, and real-world data from large-scale wind installations in the US and Europe confirms that they do. Regardless of who is correct, the inescapable fact is that America's developable wind energy resources are many times greater than our country's energy needs.

Real-world data confirms large wind installations live up to expectations

The question posed by this research has already ...

Public opinion watch: Vermont poll yet again finds strong support for wind power

Posted: 27 Feb 2013 Tom Gray, Consultant

After a great deal of contentious public debate and heavy media coverage, Vermonters continue to support the idea of building wind turbines along the state’s ridgelines by a wide margin, according to a recent poll of the general population conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute at Castleton Sate College.

The poll finds 66 percent of Vermonters supporting wind turbines along ridgelines. Castleton conducted a similar poll of registered voters in May 2012 for WCAX/WDEV/Vermont Business Magazine and found at that time that 69 percent of respondents expressed support for the development of wind energy turbines on the state’s ridgelines.

A news release from the Institute noted, "Unlike many ...

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