FROM THE ARCHIVES: Will Wind Bring Oklahoma Out of the Recession?

The wind industry is hot. It’s popular---perhaps more popular than positively polled President Obama or the newly elected American Idol. It’s the buzz of both energy-related and mainstream media; it’s the source of great press about mandates, tax credits and other goodies that the government might bring to the table. It’s the subject of bestselling books and well-attended conferences.

One of those well-attended conferences occurred in the heat of the summer in the middle of the windy plains this week. According to planners, nearly 500 people gathered in Norman, Oklahoma for the Oklahoma Wind Commerce conference June 23-24. That’s way more than they expected.

The Oklahoma Department of Commerce sponsored the conference, having decided that wind is one of the industries that Oklahoma is built for. Given that the state is in the midst of tornado alley, the idea that the fuel for this industry is readily available locally is certainly a given. If the wind isn’t blowing, you aren’t in Oklahoma. (I always picture Will Rogers saying something along those lines, anyway.)

So, the conference focused on other areas that can sweeten the pot beyond an available fuel source: pushing for tax incentives, creating a smoothly operating supply chain and offering well-trained employees for the picking.

Opportunities abound in areas of education and fuel source for the wind industry in Oklahoma with a lot of the local colleges specializing in wind turbine programs, but will the industry answer that call for action? If they build the perfect “home” for wind energy, will they come?

One company that at least answered a call for the conference was Acciona Energy. Tom Hiester, vice president with the company, was the keynote speaker for the conference luncheon. Joking that the attendance for this conference was “larger than the first AWEA event,” Hiester had a simple premise for his speech: that wind is a huge business opportunity but that, like all opportunities, there are hurdles.

First and foremost with these hurdles is transmission.

“We need long-distance transmission. We need lots of it .... Wind is a fuel that must be used in place, unlike gas or coal,” Hiester noted. This requires transmission lines. The building of transmission lines requires money. The bottom-line question is: Can Oklahoma bring in enough wind to offset the cost of the lines?

Hiester believes so. He quoted a DOE estimate that the state had the potential to harvest 725 billion kWh from wind. Hiester even noted that, perhaps, the DOE numbers were too high and that, for sake of argument, he’d give those numbers “a haircut” and shave it down by a factor of four. That’s about 180billion kWh a year, or approximately 30 percent of the current oil and gas business in the state.

“At $2 million per megawatt, Oklahoma is a $100 billion opportunity,” Hiester added. “Clearly, wind is worth the fuss.”

In the end, Hiester called not just for more transmission, but for more government help in getting Oklahoma on track for more wind energy investments. Citing issues like Eisenhower’s interstate highway system (the largest public works project in history), Hiester noted that when big government and big thinkers unite, the country gets society-changing projects.