LubbockOnline is featuring an article about Wind Energy in the Panhandle, quoting our very own Ken Starcher:

The title of Wednesday’s alternative-energy seminar was “What’s in the Wind?” The answer seemed to be “jobs.”

Most presentations focused on staffing an anticipated boom of wind farms, assuming credit markets get stronger and the Public Utilities Commission makes a final decision on which companies will build transmission lines.

“Wind is going to grow where there has only been cattle and cactus in the past,” said Ken Starcher, director of West Texas A&M’s Alternative Energy Institute. “In four years we’re going to have wires strung through the Panhandle.”

The focus is on the large demand from cities downstate served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid.

“They don’t want any more coal plants there, but they want the lights to work,” Starcher said. “If we don’t do it with conventional plants, we’ll need to use renewables, conservation or efficiency.”

Click here to read the full article.