WIND-CATCHER FARM REJECTED: Over the past year you’ve probably seen TV and Newspaper Ads promoting the Wind Catcher Energy Connection Project, a proposed 2,000 mega-watt wind farm to be built in the Oklahoma panhandle. The AEP-SWEPCO project was touted as the largest wind-farm to be built in the United States and to deliver low-cost wind generated electricity to customers in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Northwest Louisiana.
The project needs federal AND state regulatory approval to proceed. On Thursday (July 26, 2018) a Texas regulator dealt a major blow to the effort. According to Public Radio’s KUT in Austin, The Texas Public Utility Commission voted against allowing American Electric Power Company to charge some Texas
ratepayers for part of the cost of building the Wind Catcher Project which would have transmission lines to Texas. The company said it would benefit Texas ratepayers by providing a hedge against the risk of higher natural gas prices that are used by power plants to generate electricity. But Texas PUC chair DeAnn Walker echoed concerns of her fellow commissioners when she expressed doubts about the proposed savings.
“The costs are known. We know what the costs are, likely, although those are also projected," Walker said. "But the benefits are based on a lot of assumptions that are questionable.”
Proponents of the $4.5 Billion dollar wind farm said it would save utility customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas two-billion dollars in energy costs over the lifespan of the project.
