NUMBERS SAY UTILITIES WANT WIND

The Numbers Don't Lie: U.S. Utilities Continue To Embrace Wind Energy

Jeff Anthony, 6 June 2013 (North American Windpower)

“Evidence that utilities are increasingly turning to wind energy is well documented, and recent announcements show this trend accelerating…Utilities are increasingly recognizing the hedge value against fossil fuel price volatility and the zero fuel risk premium that wind energy brings to a generation portfolio.

“By the end of 2012, the top five electric utilities with wind power capacity on their systems were Xcel Energy, MidAmerican Energy (including PacifiCorp), Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and American Electric Power. Eight utilities currently purchase or own more than 1 GW of wind power each…[M]ore than 1,400 utilities purchase or own wind power directly or through wholesale electric power providers, including joint action agencies, generation and transmission cooperatives and other authorities. This means that over 43% of the 3,250 electricity providers in the U.S. have wind energy in their generation mix…”

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“…[A] number of recent announcements continued to underscore the trends of utilities doing even more with wind power…MidAmerican Energy announced plans to add up to 1,050 MW of wind generation…in Iowa by year-end 2015…Xcel Energy, also in May, announced that it would sign new power purchase agreements in Colorado for an additional 550 MW of new wind projects…[increasing] the amount of wind generation in its Colorado system by 25%...The Michigan Public Service Commission approved two power purchase agreements for wind projects in that state to supply wind energy to DTE Energy, the state’s largest utility…[allowing] DTE Energy to reduce a renewable energy surcharge for their residential customers from three dollars to 43 cents…

“…[T]wo trends emerged: utility growth in operations and maintenance of wind turbines and the impact of large, corporate purchasers of wind energy…Companies such as Google, Facebook and Apple have all made announcements recently…and utilities are increasingly receiving more inquiries and requests from their large corporate and industrial customers…Utilities agree that this trend will only increase, and AWEA will be working with them to devise common and practical business models and solutions…”

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