Modest cost forecast for wind energy growth

The cost of adding 10,000 megawatts of wind-generated power to the national generating mix over 10 years would cost consumers living in the state of Texas just 75 cents per month

November 30, 1998
Web posted at: 1:00 PM EST

By Environmental News Network staff

Wind turbines could fill vast fields out in the windswept landscapes of the United States at only a modest cost to energy consumers, according to a study from the Renewable Energy Policy Project.

In fact, the cost of adding 10,000 megawatts of wind-generated power to the national generating mix over 10 years would cost consumers living in the state of Texas just 75 cents per month, or just nine dollars a year, according to the study.

Skeptics of wind and other renewable energy technologies say that the cost of implementing wind energy is too high to even contemplate

The addition of 10,000 megawatts of wind-generated power to the national generating mix, say the study's authors, would be equal to 0.7 percent of the nation's 1996 electricity consumption. That capacity, when added to the 1,750 megawatts of already existing wind power in the United States, would bring the total up 11,750 megawatts.

Such an infusion of wind power, according to the study, would bring the nation economic benefits such as:

• $7 billion in direct economic activity from manufacturing wind turbines, constructing wind farms and supplying parts and components over ten years.
• $863 million in annual revenue from the sale of 21.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, once all the turbines are installed.
• $17 million per year in land-use easement payments to the owners of the land on which the wind farms are situated, once all the turbines are installed.
• $89 million per year from maintenance and operations, once all the turbines are installed.

Nevertheless, the study concludes that there is plenty of available land in the United States for wind energy development and that its development would benefit local economies and the costs, when shared by all customer classes -- not just those wanting "green" power -- the costs are modest.

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