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A Mighty Wind
Tehachapi area may see nation's largest wind energy project
| Saturday, Mar 31 2007 7:25 PM
Last Updated: Saturday, Mar 31 2007 8:05 PM
TEHACHAPI -- The sea of wind turbines that dot the sparsely populated ridges and valleys southeast of Tehachapi are difficult to miss.
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Love them or hate them, wind turbines are an integral part of the landscape here.
And even more wind energy is in the works, pending approval of what would be the single largest wind energy project in the nation.
If the project is approved, residents here could see almost 50 square miles of additional turbines twice as tall as some of those in use now.
But so far, most residents of this laid-back mountain community appear to be taking the proposal in stride.
"It disturbs the scenery a little bit, but after a while they just blend in," said Jill Nelson, who owns a quarter horse ranch in Cameron Canyon surrounded by turbines. "Most of the time I don't hear them. If you sit outside you can hear a swishing sound."
Others counted their blessings.
"It beats having a big old refinery or cogeneration plant next to you," said Peggy Cowden, who works at the Gallery 'N' Gifts shop in downtown Tehachapi.
Moving forward
The roughly $3 billion project, known as the Alta Wind Energy Center, would add up to 800 giant wind turbines -- some 400 feet or taller -- over roughly 50 square miles between Tehachapi and Mojave, some of it within the existing 60-square-mile Tehachapi Wind Resource Area.
Southern California Edison signed a 20-year contract in December to purchase power from joint project developers Mojave-based Oak Creek Energy Systems Inc. and Australian global financial services company Allco Finance Group Ltd.
The contract will help SCE meet a requirement for all California utilities to have 20 percent of their power under contract from renewable sources by 2010.
Construction is expected to begin in 2009 and be completed by 2014. The project's expected capacity of 1,500 megawatts is more than twice the power of the largest existing wind energy facility in the nation.
Hurdles
Though project proponents are looking to the future, there are several steps in between.
Aside from a slew of approvals needed from the county level on up, the project is contingent upon Southern California Edison building new transmission lines, upgrading existing lines and adding two new substations to transmit the new energy to a waiting public.
The $1.8 billion SCE transmission project requires approval from the California Public Utilities Commission. The U.S. Forest Service will also need to approve the power lines on its land.
Approval and construction of most of the multiple-phase project could be complete by 2013.
So far, no significant opposition has developed against the project.
The landscape
Despite the vast size of the proposed wind farm, turbines will only occupy about 5 percent of the almost 50-square-mile project area, according to Ed Duggan, Oak Creek's executive vice president.
That's because the new turbines would be much taller and more efficient than many of those currently in use in the area.
As Oak Creek does with some of its other wind operations, it will lease the land, allowing landowners to continue using the land.
Barbara Bryant, 71, lives in Madison, Wis., but owns land leased by Oak Creek.
"It's pretty amazing that it has been put to good use," said Bryant, who added the land isn't suitable to live on.
Bryant and five other relatives receive quarterly royalty payments of varying amounts from Oak Creek based on how much electricity is generated.
"It's just good supplemental income," Bryant said. "It just depends on how the wind blows. It's never the same, so it's pretty hard to count on it."
Environmental impact
Environmental activists have yet to voice strong concerns over the project.
"As far as we are concerned, it is green energy and it is not going to (have) impact on existing development," said Wallace Kleck, president of Smart Growth Tehachapi Valleys, a group dedicated to preventing urban sprawl and controlling growth.
With some caveats, the Sierra Club has similar feelings.
"We are very pro-wind. We need more wind power," said Art Unger, the chairman of the Kern-Kaweah chapter of the Sierra Club.
Unger said he plans to watch the project closely for any impacts on animal habitats or other environmental issues.
"We think that wind power has a negative side in that it takes space and is unsightly," he said. "If it is done poorly, you can have a lot of erosion. Wind machines can also be poorly maintained."
Fear of bird and bat deaths is also an issue.
But wildlife biologist Dick Anderson said Tehachapi has fewer bird deaths, especially raptor deaths, than the Altamont Pass, a California wind power area that has sparked controversy for its bird deaths.
"Tehachapi so far has not been a major problem," said Anderson, who has conducted studies on avian mortality for the California Energy Commission. "There are birds killed there. There are birds killed everywhere there are turbines."
There have been some problems with erosion in Tehachapi, but mostly with earlier projects that weren't graded and engineered properly, said Jon Lantz, a wind advocate who does consulting for the wind industry.
"I can't say you would never have erosion if you put in wind turbines," said Lantz, who lives in Cameron Canyon near wind turbines. "But the industry has learned a lot about how to control erosion in the last 20 years."
A proposal to build wind turbines near the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument near Palm Springs has faced opposition.
But so far no public outcry has surfaced in Tehachapi, which has developed a unique relationship with wind energy.
The city placed four circa-1983 re-tooled wind turbines downtown to help run its sewer treatment plant.
Some residents even have small wind turbines in their backyards.
"People have learned over the years to live with it," Tehachapi Mayor Ed Grimes said.
More turbines may not be esthetically pleasing, but many residents are looking at the bigger picture.
"It doesn't bother me," said Clyde Stroub of Tehachapi. "We need the energy. I know it doesn't look good. I just look the other way."
Average current wind turbine
Height: About 175 feet
Blades: About 90 feet in diameter
Power generated: 300 kilowatts (1,000 kilowatts equal one megawatt)
Average proposed new wind turbine
Height: About 400 feet
Blades: About 300 feet in diameter
Power generated: 2.5 to 3 megawatts (Each turbine could provide energy for 600 to 900 homes)
Alta Wind Energy Center
$3 billion — Approximate cost of the proposed Alta Wind Energy Center project
600 to 800 — Turbines that could be added
1,500 — Capacity of project, in megawatts
240 to 300 — California homes powered by one megawatt of wind energy
500 — Construction jobs project could create 300 — Long-term jobs project could create
50 — Square miles of project
Transmission project
$1.8 billion — Cost of a proposed transmission line project by Southern California Edison to take new wind power
20 years — Length of contract with Southern California Edison
Less than 1 percent — Amount of U.S. electricity use generated by wind power
Tehachapi Wind Resource Area
Size: Approximately 60 square miles
Location: Southeastern Kern County, between Tehachapi and Mojave
Turbines in use: Approximately 3,550
Power generated: Approximately 703 megawatts
Operators: About a dozen