Power troubles

A proposed wind farm with 77 turbines on Galloo Island has brought to the fore an often overlooked discussion of the need for new transmission lines to get the power from the turbines into the electrical grid for distribution to homes and businesses.

Upstate NY Power Corp. foresees a transmission line running from the town of Henderson south to the Oswego County town of Parish where it will connect with an existing 345-kilovolt line running to Syracuse. The company's island wind farm will generate about 260 megawatts of power. But the problem is not unique to Upstate NY Power Corp. or isolated to the several projects talked about in the north country.

Questions have been raised about the capability of the transmission system in Jefferson County to handle all the proposed development without costly upgrades by National Grid.

Building wind farms is one thing. Getting the power out is another, and something that developers across the country are struggling to cope with, USA Today reports.

The wind power boom, reporter Paul Davidson noted, "is poised to outstrip the capacity of high-voltage lines to send the electricity hundreds of miles to population centers such as Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles."

Wind power generates about 1 percent of America's electricity, but a dramatic 34 percent increase in wind energy in the past year has taxed existing lines and used up transmission capacity. In Texas, the electricity generated by additional wind power development this year will exceed the transmission capacity by 65 percent. In Minnesota, the power from wind farms would surpass the 2,000 megawatts of transmission capacity planned.

It can create a Catch-22 with wind farm developers hesitant to invest in projects if they cannot get their electricity to market, while utilities are reluctant to make the investment without the power. "You're committing $1 billion in capital in the hope the cost recovery will come, and that's a tough proposition," said Paul Bonavia, head of Xcel Energy, a Midwest utility.

The location of wind farms contributes to the problem. They are commonly sited in remote or more rural regions where winds are stronger. Doing so can create regional confrontations since the communities being asked to bear the brunt of the lines often do not directly benefit from power being sent into other areas or even out of state.

Although wind power might be the immediate concern, looking at the issue solely from that perspective may be shortsighted. Utilities and regulators for years have been warning about congestion on an electrical transmission system that is being strained by greater demand for power and growth of plants to supply electricity. It is a symptom of a broader problem that has to be addressed nationally.