National Environment

Wind-power where?

That was our first reaction when we heard news that the oil-capital of the US—Houston—was shifting reliance of 4/5th of their municipal energy to wind-power generated in western Texas. Evidently fallout from a series of recent hurricane seasons led the city to consider an energy hedge to their oil/coal/natural gas supplies. This led to the city locking in pricing in 2007 for 7.5 cents per kWh for a five-year period, which is now the cheapest energy available.

We view this pioneering move with particular admiration because we realize there had to have been considerable local business and political pressure against shifting away from Texas’ staple of traditional energy sources.

While private businesses and individuals were not part of the original plan, you can bet they’re going to want in on the next wind farm project.