Hugh Pickens writes "Texas regulators have approved a $4.93 billion wind-power transmission project to carry electricity from remote western parts of the state to major population centers like Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The lines will handle 18,500 megawatts of power and will ease a bottleneck that has become a major obstacle to development of the wind-rich Texas Panhandle and other areas suitable for wind generation. The transmission problem is so acute in Texas that turbines are sometimes shut off even when the wind is blowing. "When the amount of generation exceeds the export capacity, you have to start turning off wind generators," said Hunter Armistead, head of the renewable energy division in North America at Babcock & Brown. "We've reached that point in West Texas." Other states may find the Texas model difficult to emulate. The state is unique in having its own electricity grid. All other states fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, adding an extra layer of bureaucracy to any transmission proposals. "We think it's going to lower costs, lower pollution and create jobs. We think that for every $3 invested, we'll probably see about an $8 reduction in electric costs," says Tom Smith, state director of the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen."
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