$400 Million for Wind Power in Oklahoma

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been approved for a wind power projec t in northern Oklahoma to build up to 227 megawatts of wind power capacity. Jesse Langston, from Oklahoma Gas and Electric said, “This is a good outcome resulting from collaboration of the various parties interested in the expansion of renewable energy in Oklahoma.” The site is near Canton in Dewey County. The wind power facility should become operational by the second half of 2011.

About 86 Siemens wind turbines are slated for the project. Each one generates 2.3 megawatts of electricity. The Siemens SWT 2.3 101 turbine has a diameter of 101 meters, a little larger than the length of a football field.

Initially customers will see a slight increase in their utility bills, but after two years costs will come down and stay down for the lifetime of the wind farm. Wind turbines are active for about twenty years.

When completed, the Crosswinds wind project will increase the Oklahoma utility company’s wind power to ten percent of its total energy. It will be constructed by Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas). Oklahoma is thought to have one of the top ten wind power potentials in the United States. (Texas is number one.)

Oklahoma Gas and Electric serves about 779,000 customers both in Oklahoma and part of Arkansas.

Image Credit: James Fleeting

Read more: Conscious Consumer, oklahoma, siemens, wind power

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Charles W.

10:31AM PST on Jan 23, 2011

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-01-04-windmills-usat_x.htm

send a green star

Richard E C.

9:51PM PST on Jan 21, 2011

Couldn't the cost be spread out so that our bills would never go up just go down slower.

Penelope P.

5:18AM PDT on Oct 24, 2010

Goodie

Carole K.

1:36PM PDT on Aug 15, 2010

Free as the breeze! Not too far away now. Eventually, people return to the old/ new better ways. I wonder if they unearthed any old pioneer windmills in building this new, more efficient prototype!

7:35PM PDT on Aug 14, 2010

Hope they are tornado proof.

Andrew M.

5:01PM PDT on Aug 6, 2010

I do think that wind power is the solution to some problems, but I live near a wind "farm" And the're everywhere you look, it did look nice until they were put in, It's very ugly. Not to mention they kill millions of birds annualy, But still, it is better than some power sources

Cynthia B.

7:08PM PDT on Aug 5, 2010

This is GREAT, and such welcome news....I also think that solar panels would be good.

Mervi R.

6:53PM PDT on Aug 5, 2010

Good to hear great news for a change!