Wind Power Gets Airing in Park City

Wind Power Gets Airing in Park City

Sep 09 - Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

PARK CITY -- Eighty steel towers rise out of the sagebrush in Evanston, Wyo., supporting blades longer than an airplane wing. Powered only by the wind, the massive blades glide through the air 365 feet above the ground, generating enough power for 145,000 homes throughout the region.

The landscape of turbines, called a wind farm, is less than a year old and has already saved the Florida Light Power and Energy Co. from having to build 10 coal-based power plants.

The success of the renewable energy field in Wyoming has Park City officials thinking about harnessing the wind for their city as well. In fact, the city has set a goal to use wind power for 15 percent of its energy needs this year.

Utah has no wind farms of its own and has to buy wind-powered energy from the Wyoming plant. But Maile Buker, a member of the Park City Leadership group, said she hopes increased demand for the renewable energy in Park City and around the state will be the catalyst for creating wind energy within Utah.

"We're just creating more awareness and getting people more used to wind power instead of fossil fuels," said Buker, who is sponsoring a "Wind Power Week" this week in Park City to encourage people to sign up for wind power.

The week of activities included a tour of the Evanston wind farm Wednesday and will conclude with a panel discussion on power plants and global warming at 7:30 p.m. today at 1255 Park Ave.

"Things are warming up. Glaciers are melting quickly. That greatest snow on earth in Utah may be gone soon," Buker said.

Park City Mayor Dana Williams hopes to use the week to promote Utah Power's Blue Sky program, which allows residents to sign up for wind energy as a percentage of their monthly power. Although the option tacks on $1.95 for every 100 kilowatts, Buker said prices will drop if Utah gets its own wind farm. The average home runs on 700 kilowatts a month.

Sarah Wright at Utah Clean Energy Alliance said wind power has not caught on in Utah because of the sporadic nature of the wind in the state, and because of the lack of incentives to build wind farms, Wright said. A farm equivalent to the one in Evanston would cost about $150 million to construct.

The Legislature passed a sales tax incentive for developers building renewable energy sites earlier this year, a move that Wright said may start the ball rolling for wind-powered energy in Utah.

"It is catching on very quickly and these community challenges like in Park City are excellent ways to get the word out," Wright said.

While wind power will never supply 100 percent of the state's energy needs, Wright said it should be a portion of Utah's power grid. Other states have even mandated that a percentage of their energy come form renewable sources such as wind or solar energy.

California officials, for example, ruled last year that they would have 20 percent of their energy coming from renewable sources by the year 2017. Renewable energy makes up less than 1 percent of Utah's power.

"It's not going to be the silver bullet, but it should be part of our energy portfolio," she said.

Fossil fuels make up 95 percent of Utah's power, a percentage that has state energy officials worried, said Utah Energy Analyst Jon Allred. The standard coal-burning plants are giving off high levels of pollution, as well as contaminating water and perpetuating global warming. Perhaps more importantly, Allred added, is that the coal supply is limited, but the electricity demand continues to grow.

But Allred said the main obstacle to cultivating wind power in Utah is that the state's wind resources are unpredictable. Areas with good winds are often located too far away from transmission lines to be useful.

"You don't get the steady wind you want. You might get enough to knock the tower down one day and nothing the next," he said. "The wind isn't where you want it when you need it."

To find feasible wind power locations, Allred said the Utah Energy Office is conducting wind tests across the state.

Cathy Hartman, a Utah State University business professor, said she thinks those tests will reveal that there are some good pockets of wind power resources throughout the state. Combining the discovery of those pockets with the recent sales tax incentive for builders, Hartman said the way is paved for a new era of wind energy in Utah.

That era, she added, will save Utah and residents money in the long-run because the only major cost associated with wind power is the initial construction fee.

"You don't have to buy the wind," she said. "The resources are already there."

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