Preserve Rural Life With Wind Energy
As our readers are aware, Western Water and Power just received some important tax credits to develop a biomass facility in Torrance County. Less well known is that Foresight Wind Energy for High Lonesome Wind Ranch had competed with them for those tax credits, but we’re happy to read in the Mountain View Telegraph that Foresight Wind Energy will also be getting tax credits from the state, $222, 730 annually. Their regional development manager, Amy LeGere, published a cogent op-ed in the Telegraph this week:
The winds blow strong in the heart of New Mexico. With the county’s first wind project finalizing plans for construction in 2008, Torrance County and the Estancia Basin communities stand to reap the benefits from wind energy.
Harnessing the power of the wind is part of rural America’s past and future. Small turbines dotted the landscape long before rural electrification. Today, wind projects across America help preserve rural communities with new jobs, spending injected into local economies and an increased tax base. Wind energy is homegrown energy that helps secure our energy future. Unlike other electricity sources, wind turbines don’t use water or produce emissions to generate electricity. Wind is very compatible with ranching. Since only 2-3 percent of the land is utilized for the wind ranch infrastructure, livestock and wildlife can graze to the base of the turbines.
New Mexico looks to the tremendous potential of wind and other clean renewable energy for economic development, energy resource diversity, and environmental protection. The state seeks to meet its aggressive renewable portfolio standard to help provide New Mexico citizens with clean, stable-priced electricity and to harness the wind as a commodity crop for export to states with a large demand for renewable energy.
The wind industry contributes to the economies of 46 states, and communities across the nation are actively working to attract wind projects. Local spending to build and operate wind projects provides an important economic stimulus, and an increased tax base benefits counties, schools and states. Construction for a typical 100 megawatt wind project creates approximately 200 temporary jobs, with much of the work done by local contractors. Modern wind plants are designed to operate for a minimum of 30 years and require about 10 full-time employees to operate and maintain the facility. A 100-megawatt wind energy project will support the average annual electricity needs of 25,000 to 30,000 homes in the Southwest.
Torrance County’s first wind project is designed to essentially be self-sufficient, placing minimal or no demand on county services while bringing significant economic and social benefits. The project will boost the local construction and services economy during 2008. During the 30-year life of the project, the local and state economy will benefit from new high-tech jobs, an increased tax base, local expenditures, and project visitation and ecotourism revenues.
We wish them well and…may the alternative energy revolution continue to move forward in New Mexico!
