Dec 06, 2004 - 23:16:31 CST
PIERRE, S.D. -- A California businessman said Monday that the Dakotas and Nebraska could become highly profitable havens for the largest wind farms in the nation over the next decade or two.Eric Greenberg, president of Innovative Investments LLC of San Francisco, said his investment holding company is already working with the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe to build a wind farm on that reservation in central South Dakota.
He told the Legislature's State Tribal Relations Committee that South Dakota and other Plains states have huge potential for development of wind farms if sufficient transmission lines are built to ship the electricity to big-city customers in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri.
Greenberg said one of the first chores will be to prod the Western Area Power Administration, which markets electricity from Missouri River dams, to accept more power on its transmission lines. He said WAPA has unused reserve capacity of 40 percent.
Greenberg suggested that 6,000 megawatts of electricity could be eventually obtained from wind in South Dakota. He said much larger transmission lines will be needed if the wind potential in South Dakota alone is fully tapped.
The world's largest wind farm of 300 megawatts is on the Washington-Oregon border. It is owned by FPL Energy, a Florida-based firm that also operates a 40-megawatt wind farm near Highmore that has 27 turbines. FPL Energy also has wind turbines in North Dakota.
Mike Jandreau, chairman of the Lower Brule Tribe, said South Dakota cannot consume all of the additional electricity that could be made by using the wind. He said the state should help persuade WAPA to open its lines to extra electricity produced by wind farms.
Greenberg said 1,000 wind turbines eventually could be erected on the Lower Brule Reservation. The tribe would get 5 percent of the gross electric revenues, which is well above the compensation typically provided by the power industry, he said. The tribe also could buy electricity from the wind farm at wholesale rates to develop an ethanol plant, reduce irrigation costs and give an economic advantage to other tribal business endeavors, Greenberg said.
"If we really develop that to its future potential, they could be a major economic power," he said of the tribe.
"I see an electron superhighway going to major markets," he said. "This could probably be the largest industry in the state in 10 to 20 years."
Greenberg said he has strong connections to Washington, and he believes WAPA can be convinced to provide additional transmission capacity for wind farms.
"If anybody is going to deny Native Americans the right to earn a living, the racist cries will be so loud that they're going to have political baggage," he said of possible detractors.
State Rep. Jim Putnam, R-Armour, noted that building existing large power lines in South Dakota was no easy chore.
"What a fight that was," he said.
Large power lines are not only expensive, they also may face opposition from landowners and environmentalists.
Greenberg said transmission lines could be paid for by the federal government and the state could chip in, too, or they could be financed solely by the private sector.
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