These are indeed challenging times for the utilities industry, especially those engaged in wind power. Revenues for many have leveled off or fallen. This has forced many to adopt stringent cost cutting efforts, including layoffs. Regrettably, new technologies and methods of power generation have met with either a tepid response or downright opposition during the planning process.
Environment uncertainty has also been thrown into the mix. While many utilities are amenable to wind farms, the prospect of dealing with new environmental rules and regulations can be off-putting at best. Utilities that have embraced wind and actually built wind farms must now contend with how to balance this resource with other modes of power generation they own. The unanswered questions remain: will balancing these services fall under the purview of the utility or the regional transmission organization? What will the price tag be for such services?
Transmission capacity must also be upgraded, as wind power adds a whole new dynamic to the transmission grid; this, at a time when consumers and industry all hunger for more power at an affordable price. Since transmission planning, permitting, and construction take time, the earlier these efforts begin, the better.
Clearly, getting wind power into today and tomorrow's power grids will pose a challenge for power utilities across the U.S. Meeting that challenge will be the thousands of new and experienced utility workers. They will help usher in a new era of power independence based on the most sustainable of power sources—wind.
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