Wind Farm Proposed East of Diagonal

Wind Farm Proposed East of Dia ; Florida Power & Light Eyes Adams County for 50 Turbine Towers

Apr 13 - Rocky Mountain News

A steady wind howls along U.S. 36 in eastern Adams County, kicking a tumbleweed across the highway and pressing it hard against a fence line.

Brian Downing, who owns nearly 10,000 acres along this stretch of road, can't get enough of it.

"I grew up hating the wind as a farmer," he said. "Now I don't feel as bad when the wind blows."

In fact, he feels pretty good about it. Landholders like Downing could end up earning tens of thousands of dollars a year hosting wind turbines on their property.

Florida Power & Light, which is part of $10.5 billion energy company FPL Group, is eyeing Downing's property and that of seven others for an $80 million wind farm, Colorado's fourth.

The project calls for approximately 50 turbine towers - each 260 feet tall with three 127-foot long blades - generating power for 21,000 homes. If all goes well with the first phase, the project could double to 100 windmills pumping out 150 megawatts of power.

The state's largest wind farm, near Lamar, generates about 162 megawatts of power. One megawatt serves approximately 300 homes.

"Suffice it to say, the area in Adams County we're looking at has potential," said Steve Stengel, a spokesman for Florida Power & Light, a big player nationally in wind power.

The utility is seeking county approval for the wind farm, which is proposed to start operating next year in a 23-square-mile area 35 miles east of Denver International Airport.

FPL is also feeling out potential customers for its power, including Xcel or an electric cooperative.

"This is all predicated on having a customer. We won't build this project without a customer," Stengel said.

County warms to wind

Adams County planning manager Jim Hayes said several environmental studies still need to be completed, but added, "we're probably going to approve it. We don't see a lot of public outcry."

The planning commission is scheduled to hear FPL's application at the end of this month. Then it goes to the Adams County commissioners in May for a final decision.

Not that the planning staff was completely comfortable with the project initially.

"One of our concerns is that it would adversely impact farming communities by eating up their land," Hayes said. And the county didn't want the project to require additional public services.

But FPL told the county that access roads and turbine pad sites would cover just 50 to 100 acres total. FPL also drafted a noise- mitigation plan that restricts development near windmills. And it assured officials that the county wouldn't have to provide any services to the wind farm.

In fact, Hayes said, the project is expected to generate "hundreds of thousands of dollars" per year in property tax revenue and dozens of jobs during the construction phase.

And, he said, FPL agreed to cover the increased tax obligations property owners would face once their land values rise as a result of the project.

Meanwhile, the landowners are working out a separate deal with FPL: the Florida utility would pay them about $4,000 per year for each turbine they host.

"It's a great deal for me. Basically, I don't have to do anything," said Dale Stull, who owns a 900-acre plot within the proposed site.

Makings of a deal

Downing bounces his red Ford F-250 pickup across the prairie, studded with yucca plants and cacti, and pulls up to an old windmill. It is one of a dozen or so of the wind machines pulling up underground water for his cattle.

When Downing heard five years ago that FPL was scoping out the area for a wind farm, he invited the company to consider his property as a site.

FPL has since signed agreements with seven other landholders nearby, saying that the utility would deal on their behalf with county regulators in moving the project forward.

"The main reason I am working with FPL is that they have the best chance of getting the project done. They are the blue-chip wind- generator company," Downing said.

FPL claims to be the top wind-power producer in the U.S., with 6,800 turbines cranking out more than 2,700 megawatts of power in 15 states.

Preliminary wind data collected by FPL in eastern Adams County looks promising. The company says the wind blows up to 8.9 meters per second on the ridges around Downing's tract, a speed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden classifies as "outstanding."

But impressive wind speeds mean nothing if the Florida utility can't nail down a customer to buy its wind power. And soon.

The federal production tax credit of 1.8 cents per kilowatt hour of wind power is set to expire at the end of the year. If it isn't extended by Congress, wind-power producers will find it harder to compete with fossil- fuel-generated power.

Xcel currently buys 222 megawatts of wind power from three wind farms in the state, accounting for about 3 percent of its capacity. In mid-March, it announced that it will buy 129 more megawatts of wind power from two companies.

But it will need even more after that. Last November, voters approved Amendment 37, the ballot initiative that compels large utilities in the state to derive 10 percent of their electrical power from renewable sources by 2015.

"It's clear we are going to need additional wind generating facilities in future years," said Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz.

Neither Xcel nor FPL will say whether they are getting ready to do business with each other. But both the county and landowners believe FPL is trying to snag Colorado's largest utility as a customer.

Downing said major Xcel power lines skirting the western edge of his property are perfect for picking up juice from FPL's wind turbines and sending it on to the power grid.

"Xcel is the most logical choice," Hayes said.

FPL has until May 17 to submit a bid to Xcel to be a power provider for the utility over the next eight years. Xcel's Karen Hyde said her company will be giving the "economic edge in the analysis" to companies offering energy from renewable resources.

That's good news to Downing, who envisions that a wind farm so close to the metro area could have the added benefit of serving as an educational center on alternative energy sources.

"People could see the turbines and schools could come out and tour the site," he said.

At the very least, he said, the sleek windmills would be "cool- looking," spinning slowly on the plains just an hour's drive from Denver.

"And they'll give my cows some shade, too," Downing said.

For far more extensive news on the energy/power visit: http://www.energycentral.com .