Texas Announces $5 Billion Plan for Wind Power Transmission Lines
When it comes to tapping into west Texas' plentiful wind power resources, throwing up wind farm after wind farm is only part of the equation. The less glamorous, yet equally important side of the operation is figuring out how to get all those gigawatts back to the metropolises that need them. That's why it was big news Friday when the state awarded the contracts necessary to build the nearly 2,400 miles of transmissions lines that will make up Texas' renewable energy pipeline.Seven utilities companies were awarded with contracts from the Texas Public Utilities Commission. Now, they're faced with the task of acquiring funding to pay the upfront costs of their projects in the middle of an extended credit crunch -- to be recouped later from energy consumers, of course. Apparently, this deal is being observed as a sort of Guinea pig for a similar situation mounting in the western states, where governors are trying to come up with a strategy pull off a similar transmissions project across various state lines.













