Wind energy is nothing new for those of us who grew up in the plains of West Texas. The wind created massive dust storms and powered windmills for smaller scale farms and homes. However, until recently we did not harness all of that wind energy to power city homes and businesses.
With the recent increases in oil prices in the United States and around the world, harnessing wind energy is becoming a national obsession. Wind farms are springing up across western Texas, New Mexico and up into the Great Plains, as the people who have suffered and complained about all those windy days find a way to make money from all the energy that wind provides.
All that wind energy has always been renewable and cleaner to produce than energy from oil and coal. Now that it’s becoming worth the cost of production, people are quickly realizing the benefits of using cleaner wind energy to power their homes and businesses. Since wind energy can be converted to electricity, it can fill a variety of needs in cities as well as on farms.
Although wind turbines may be a large initial investment, utilities can quickly recoup the cost of converting to wind energy because of favorable regulations, goodwill from customers and the lower cost of using a renewable energy over time. Overall, the cost of integrating wind energy into a utility system has been estimated as between $5 and $8 per megawatt hour, which is generally considered a reasonable cost.
With the increasing costs of our dependence on oil, it makes sense to begin seeking out and using alternative energy sources such as wind energy. As customers begin to see and push for the accountability of utility companies in regard to their treatment of the environment, wind energy will continue to grow in popularity and usage.