Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Provides Massive Wind Power for State

Colorado unleashed the power of a 274 turbine, 300 megawatt wind generating station at Cedar Creek, in northern Weld County, Colorado, this past week.

The governor noted three "wins" from the project, one of three coming on-line since he took office in January. The economy, the environment, and energy independence are the three big beneficiaries, according to the governor's remarks.

The new facility, run by Xcel Energy and developed by BP Alternative Energy and international investment firm Babcock & Brown, will provide power for about 90,000 homes at the end of the year, said the governor's press release.

The governor recently signed legislation which requires large utilities to derive at least twenty percent of their power from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020, the so-called "renewable portfolio standard." "We're going to hit that target by the end of the year," he is quoted as saying during a dedication where strong winds added a dramatic effect, "that's about eight years early."

Noting the nature of the Colorado weather, the governor said, "To any farmer or rancher who has ever been on a tractor and cursed the wind, today we honor it." Winds blowing along Colorado's Front Range often blow strongly, only now Colorado winds are being transformed into an important resource. The high number of sunny days will also likely figure into Colorado's energy future.

One of the challenges of wind power on such a large scale is the "NIMBY" effect, where ideal locations are, like Massachusetts' Nantucket Sound, the location of resort areas where they may be considered undesirable, and politicians are challenged to balance the national and environmental priorities against their constituents' and neighbors.

Colorado is home to a large-scale effort to develop and implement renewable energy, both locally and worldwide. Proponents such as Congressman Ed Perlmutter are working along with resources such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located in his congressional district, to make sure that renewable energy remains a national priority into the future. Implementations of technologies which are practical now, such as wind power, are combined with advanced research which is developing energy sources from new types of agricultural material, as well as finding new was to use known energy sources.

For visitors to the Denver-Golden area, the NREL provides tours and a visitor's center for further information on the latest research and technologies, and their website is located at www.nrel.gov.