Wyoming tells Calif.: We have wind power for sale

Sept. 30, 2011 - MEAD GRUVER - mercurynews.com

CHEYENNE, Wyo.—Wyoming officials including Gov. Matt Mead say a new analysis shows California could save billions over the years ahead by importing more wind power from the gusty high plains.

Last spring, California committed its utilities to obtaining one-third of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. It is the most ambitious renewable energy policy of any state. As envisioned right now, California plans to achieve its goals with in-state renewable energy.

A study by an agency that helps to oversee the Western electricity grid suggests the renewable energy requirement would cost less if California made plans to import a larger share of power from renewable sources in other states.

Wyoming officials are calling attention to the study by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. Loyd Drain with the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority said Wyoming has "primo wind" that could save California electricity customers $600 million a year.

He pointed out that electricity in California already costs twice as much as in Wyoming, a state that ranks among what is now a minority without a renewable energy portfolio standard.

Drain predicted California's rates will continue to go up.

" And I don't know if that's good for business. That's their choice, though," he said. "We're just hoping that at some point in the next few years that we can get the folks in California to turn their heads toward costs of renewables. If we can get them

to do that, then Wyoming has an excellent opportunity to get some transmission built."

Wyoming already is the biggest source of the nation's cheapest electricity—between the state's vast coal mines and its handful of coal-fired power plants.

Mead pointed out in a statement that California already gets cheap electricity from Wyoming.

" Wyoming can efficiently provide a portion of their renewable energy tomorrow," he said.

California Gov. Jerry Brown's office is working hard to develop in-state energy projects, spokesman Evan Westrup said by email.

" A robust and vibrant in-state marketplace will also help drive down costs," he said.

The Western Electricity Coordinating Council study showed that Wyoming wind power transmitted over yet-to-be-built high-voltage, direct-current power lines could indeed save California ratepayers money, said Bradley Nickell, director of Transmission Planning at WECC.

Whether Wyoming wind is the cheapest of all possible renewable options for California utilities is difficult to predict without factoring in hard-to-calculate costs such as securing regulatory approval for projects, he said.

" You have to be very, very specific down to the project level on the generation as well as transmission," Nickell said.

The council evaluated different scenarios in which renewable energy from outside California would stand in for renewables inside the state.

Nearly all of Wyoming's renewable electricity generation is wind power. Although solar power is becoming more affordable, wind power remains much less expensive.