http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25723033/AUSTIN, Texas - Texas officials gave preliminary approval Thursday to the nation's largest wind-power project, a plan to build billions of dollars worth of new transmission lines to bring pollution-free energy from gusty West Texas to urban areas.
Texas is already the national leader in wind power, and wind supporters say Thursday's move by the Public Utility Commission will make the Lone Star State a leader in moving energy to the urban areas that need electricity.
"We will add more wind than the 14 states following Texas combined," said PUC Commissioner Paul Hudson. "I think that's a very extraordinary achievement. Some think we haven't gone far enough, some think we've pushed too far."
Expected to be finalized later this month, the approval represents a middle ground between five scenarios ranging from $3 billion to $6.4 billion.
Environmentalist and consumer groups called the move a critical expansion of the "renewable energy superhighway," predicting it will spur wind energy projects, create jobs, reduce energy costs and reduce pollution.
$4 more a month on bills
Texas electric customers will bear the cost over the next several years, paying about $4 more per month on their electric bills, according to Tom Smith, director of the Texas office of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. Smith and other wind supporters call that a small price to pay for clean energy.
State officials note those increases could be several years away, and the payments would be no different than the current system of paying for new transmission lines from power plants.
The 2-1 vote by the PUC, however, didn't commit to as large a project as some environmental groups and state lawmakers had wanted. The plan would transmit a little more than half the energy some advocated.
Texas already generates about 5,000 megawatts of wind power, more than any other state. The new plan would add transmission lines to boost capacity to about 18,000 megawatts.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas says one megawatt of power provides enough electricity for 500 to 700 average homes under normal conditions in Texas, or about 200 homes during hot weather.
Visionary, or socialism?
"The capacity for wind generation in west and north Texas is so great that we could position ourselves in Texas to be the world leader in wind and renewable energy in the next 100 years, just as we were the world leader in oil and gas for the past 100 years," Democratic state Rep. Mark Strama said earlier this week.
Opponents include the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which advocates for limited government.
"The costs of building those new transmission lines should be borne by the companies who develop the wind and solar farms, as well as the consumers who purchase that energy," foundation analyst Drew Thornley was quoted as saying in the Houston Chronicle. "They should not be socialized across every ratepayer."
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