Colorado’s wind-power ranking has slipped a notch, even though the state boasts the nation’s fifth-largest wind farm.
Colorado now ranks ninth in the nation, down from eighth in 2003. New Mexico moved from ninth place to sixth by adding 60 megawatts of capacity last year, according to a study to be released today by the American Wind Energy Association.
Colorado grew by just 7.5 megawatts with a total wind generation capacity of 231 megawatts at the end of 2004.
One megawatt of continuous electricity serves about 650 homes. Because the wind blows sporadically, 1 megawatt of wind-energy capacity serves about 240 to 300 homes.
Most of Colorado’s wind power comes from the 162-megawatt Colorado Green wind farm near Lamar, bigger than all but four U.S. wind facilities.
Denver next week will be the focus of the wind industry as it hosts Windpower 2005, North America’s largest wind-energy conference. Among the issues to be discussed are the uncertain status of a federal tax credit for wind generation and whether wind can compete economically with power from coal and natural gas.
The four-day conference begins Sunday and is expected to draw 4,000 attendees, generating estimated spending of $7 million, according to the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Denver was selected for the conference because Colorado is viewed as a state with high potential for wind-energy development, said Randall Swisher, executive director of the American Wind Energy Association, based in Washington, D.C.
“Having a key organization such as the National Wind Technology Center of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (in Jefferson County) was also an important selling point,” he said. “As was the presence of utilities that have helped pioneer the development of wind projects, such as Xcel Energy and the Platte River Power Authority.”
Xcel recently selected two wind-power proposals in Colorado totalling 129 megawatts as part of its long-term power acquisitions.
Xcel chose only 129 megawatts because other proposals were too expensive and because some bidders withdrew during the process, said Xcel spokeswoman Margarita Alarcon.
However, wind advocates and environmentalists have criticized Xcel for failing to choose more projects from the 2,000 megawatts submitted in bids.
Xcel’s negotiations with bidders were too inflexible to accommodate short-term factors such as high steel prices, shortages of wind turbines and tax-policy uncertainty, said Ron Lehr, a wind-energy advocate based in Denver who was chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1985 to 1991.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-820-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
Tops in turbines
In 2004, Colorado slipped from eighth to ninth among U.S. states generating the most wind power. The leaders in megawatts of wind-generation capacity:
1. California 2,096
2. Texas 1,293
3. Iowa 632
4. Minnesota 615
5. Wyoming 285
6. New Mexico 267
7. Oregon 263
8. Washington 240
9. Colorado 231
10. Oklahoma 176
Source: American Wind Energy Association
