Windpower, the good, the bad and the ugly

Implications: The analysis does a fine job of describing the good points of wind power. That's the "good" in the title. The "bad" is that just adding transmission capacity will not solve the real problem with wind which is that it is an opportunistic supply. In order to utilize it, every kilowatthour needs to be backed up by a redundant power source. This is not fatal, but it does hurt the economics as the only positive is the "free" fuel when the wind is blowing and their is a power deficit. That will not offset the cost of the windmills plus the cost of a 100% back up fossil system, even if the transmission lines are already available. The "ugly" is some peoples' opinion of the appearance of a field of "thousands" of 4 mw generators towering over the landscape. One other "ugly" that is being improved is that the gearboxes for these units are reported to require excessive maintenance, leading to lower overall availablity.

Analysis: In general, the US is blessed with relatively good transmission infrastructure as long as you want to move power in a North-South direction. When it comes to East-West, things are not so rosy. The same holds true when addressing the movement of natural gas in the US.

Any addition of East-West electric transmission capacity should be welcomed by everyone, including those promoting additional wind power generators or any other source of power. Unfortunately, the placement of new energy infrastructure is subject to significant NIMBY pressures within each political jurisdiction. Each proposed line faces multiple challenges.

Engineers can solve the construction challenges. Only the American public can solve the NIMBY problem by making energy a national priority, immune from local and regional politics.

A national energy policy.., there's an idea that's way over due.