Oklahoma Wind – Bringing Advancements to Renewable Energy
As Oklahomans travel north and south along Interstate 35 and west along Interstate 40, one cannot miss seeing the majestic white windmill-like apparatuses, called wind turbines, clustered against the terrain and set deep into the sunset. What an amazing sight as each one of these massive machines is working to generate clean, natural power for not only thousands of Oklahoma homes and businesses, but far beyond our borders to locations throughout the U.S.
Before we learn more about the benefits of this product and how the industry of wind energy is changing Oklahoma, let’s take a step back and learn how this concept got its start centuries ago.
History
The history of wind energy extends back to 1000 B.C. when sailors applied cloth sails to propel their boats using energy from wind. During the 1st Century A.D. Greek engineer, Heron of Alexandria recorded the first-time using wind power to operate a machine. In 7th Century Central Asia, the first systematic applications of windmills were used in industry to grind corn and pump water.
Although the use of windmills has become widespread throughout history, people didn’t have a way to store the energy for later use. That, however, changed in 1887 when Professor James Blyth of Scotland devised a 33-foot tall, cloth-sailed wind turbine that charged accumulators to light his home. A year later, American Charles Brush emulated Blyth as he developed the first wind-powered turbine that generated electricity. This turbine had a 56-foot diameter rotor mounted on a 60-foot tower and had 144 blades. It produced only 12 KW of power.
Even though the inventions and trials were rudimentary at best, their work became the catalyst for greater inventions and more powerful technology during the early part of the 20th century and continuing forward today.
About Oklahoma’s Wind Energy Industry
According to Mark Yates, vice president of Advanced Power Alliance (APA) and director of policy in Oklahoma, wind farm development got it’s start in Oklahoma during 2003. “Before 2003, the wind coalition (now the APA) was around but did not have a strong presence in Oklahoma. At that point in our state’s history Governor Frank Keating was promoting the diversification of Oklahoma’s energy sector to protect us from the boom/bust cycle in the oil & gas industry. During this same time, our neighboring states of Texas and Kansas were beginning to see growth in the industry, so that begged the question, why not Oklahoma?” Yates said.
Since that time, the wind energy industry has maintained steady growth making it one of the state’s leading industries. Today, Oklahoma is #2 in the U.S. for wind power resources, generating 40.2% of all Oklahoma electricity in 2019, and is #3 in the U.S. for installed wind capacity. To date, there has been more than $20 billion invested in Oklahoma’s wind energy industry. From the $20 billion investment, over $100 million is paid out annually in ad valorem taxes and over $52 million is paid to farmers and ranchers in land leases each year, with the terms of the leases averaging 20-40 years.
The wind power industry is ranked among the top three taxpayers in 19 Oklahoma counties and 71 Oklahoma school districts, allowing more than thirty districts to fall off of the State Funding Formula. The revenue they would have received is placed back into the state fund and allocated to other school districts.
Wind Energy Effect on Oklahoma Municipalities
One of the first Oklahoma wind farms was built near the city of Weatherford in Custer County in 2005. Originally, the farm consisted of seven turbines. Today, that farm hosts 98 wind turbines.
According to Weatherford Mayor, Mike Brown, the existence of wind farms near his community and throughout the county have been very positive. “The wind power industry has created a new source of economic development that has not only generated additional sales and use tax revenue, but also ad valorem tax increases for our schools,” Brown said. Brown also stated that as more farms and wind turbines are added in the surrounding areas, Weatherford not only has the workers coming in, but many of their families are joining them as well. “Having these skilled workers and their families joining our community is a very positive addition. They become a part of our schools and churches and integrate into our culture very well,” Brown added.
According to Yates, Oklahoma has an unlimited wind resource and currently has companies involved in expanding to the related industries of solar power and energy storage. “Since Oklahoma is known for the best wind in the world, we must harness that power and reap the economic benefits by diversifying our energy portfolio,” Yates said. With the addition of these related wind power industries, Oklahoma can continue to enhance the rural economies by offering new career opportunities, creating new revenue streams and by generating additional ad valorem taxes throughout the state.
One company that is in the midst of making a tremendous investment into the combination of solar, wind and energy storage is NextEra Energy Resources (NEER). The project will encompass Major, Garfield, and Alfalfa counties and when completed will be the largest facility of its kind in the U.S. It will include approximately 90 wind turbines slated to be online by the end of 2020, a 250-megawatt solar farm and a 200-megawatt battery facility set to be completed in late 2023. Once completed, the project will add 500 megawatts to the regional power grid, plus an additional 200 megawatts from the energy storage facility.
Upon completion, it is estimated that NEER will invest approximately $600 million in the state. According to NEER, all this energy will be purchased by Western Farmers’ Cooperative of Moore where it will provide power to approximately 150,000 Oklahoma homes.
Future of Wind Energy in Oklahoma
Yates also said that as Oklahoma looks toward the future with the use of our natural and abundant resources, such as wind, solar, natural gas, and potentially hydrogen more mega corporations, such as Amazon, Google, Kimberly-Clark, Budweiser and others will look to buy our power. We hold incredible potential to lead our Nation’s energy revolution with infinite power resources. “The future of clean energy is very exciting for Oklahoma. As more wind farms, solar farms and power storage installations are developed across our state, we are able to continue diversifying our energy industry in a way so that we can be a world leader for many decades to come. Clean energy will continue to be a strong economic development tool for the state. It is a very exciting time for Oklahoma,” Yates said.
About the Advanced Power Alliance and the Oklahoma Power Alliance*
The Advanced Power Alliance is the industry trade association created to promote the development of these energy resources as clean, reliable, affordable, and infinite sources of power.
The Alliance is the advanced power industry’s voice within the fourteen states of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) systems: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.
Through our advocacy programs, we work to expand transmission capacity, to increase the use of renewable generation and energy storage within the region, and to facilitate export of this cleaner, cheaper power to customers around the country. We are leading efforts to defend tax and siting policies that treat renewables development equitably, and we are standing in opposition to those anti-renewable energy forces working to impede the growth of clean power within the region.
The Oklahoma Power Alliance is the industry trade association representing members of the Oklahoma clean energy industry, project developers and investors, landowners, manufacturers and suppliers, counties and school districts, and the more than 9,000 employees working in Oklahoma in the renewables industry.
Oklahoma Power Alliance represents its members in Oklahoma’s policy forums, seeking to encourage and support the production of electricity using our state’s vast renewable energy resources. As part of an “all of the above” solution, wind energy, solar power and battery storage are securing our energy independence.
Oklahoma’s energy future is here – and our potential is as limitless as the skies above.
*(source: www.poweralliance.org)
To learn more about the impact wind energy has in Oklahoma, please watch the video below: