Originally published August 19 2005
Illinois fosters wind energy to boost economy
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Because of federal subsidies, companies in Illinois will soon begin to harness wind energy, which will add 8,000 jobs and $7 billion to the state's economy in the next seven years.
Within the last few weeks, years of negotiations fell into place, positioning the wind industry to explode and bring some 8,000 jobs and $7 billion to the Illinois economy by 2012.
"We've passed the point on if (wind energy) is a feasible technology," Lt.
Proponents of wind energy long have said an extension of the federal production tax credit (PTC) for developers and a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for utilities could vault Illinois into the forefront of green energy producing states with 9,000 megawatts of potential wind energy production.
With about a dozen utility-scale wind projects in activedevelopment stages in Illinois and new interests growing daily since the ICC unanimously approved the governor's Renewable Energy Plan, developers of the giant wind machine farms are optimistic.
Currently ComEd has about 100 megawatts of landfill methane generation in its energy supply portfolio, as well as a power purchase agreement for Crescent Ridge's 50 megawatts.
Wind also can provide a long-term price hedge for customers in that wind operating costs are not subject to the same cost escalation as fossil fuels, Juracek said.
It costs between 3 cents and 7 cents per kilowatt hour to produce wind energy.
With the extension of the production tax credit, Detweiler said the DCEO is expecting at least 2,000 megawatts of wind energy development by 2012.
And Quinn said it will be in the utilities' best interest to arrange purchase agreements with those developers.
"Just from the portfolio perspective, any utility company in America in the 21st century should want diversity of supply, and not put all your eggs in one basket," Quinn said, adding that currently Illinois gets only half of 1 percent of its energy from renewables.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml