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Power Turbines with Wind, Not Gas, says Advocate by Karen Zacharias, Herald Oregon Bureau Tri-City Herald, April 22, 2001

PENDLETON -- Don Bain believes the answer to the Northwest's energy crisis is blowing right over our heads.

Bain, 51, is president of Aeropower Services Inc. of Portland, a wind energy consulting firm. Umatilla County commissioners recently tapped his expertise and solicited his advice regarding wind energy projects in Umatilla County.

"It's not rational to keep building gas-fired plants. If what you're looking for is stable electric prices, you're much better off putting your capital investment where fuel is free," Bain said.

The lure of wind power has drawn added attention in the often windy Mid-Columbia. Two projects are under way -- the Stateline Wind Power Project, which spans the border between Washington and Oregon, and the Vancycle Ridge project near Helix. And more could follow.

The recent power shortfall is part of the reason, with rolling blackouts in California and an expected spike in rates for the Northwest come fall. Other means of generation also are in the works and coming to the region, including natural gas plants. There's even talk about reviving nuclear power.

However, to build more gas-fired plants, developers first must build more pipeline, Bain said. And "three-fourths of the money from gas-fired plants goes back to Canada," he said.

Furthermore, he said, a wind energy plant keeps a community's investment close to home.

"I don't know of any farmer who's been able to keep the farm in the family because of money made from a gas-fired plant," he said. Farmers still can cultivate the land under the huge wind turbines while earning money by leasing their land.

Like Bain, John White, energy facilities analysts for Oregon Office of Energy, believes the Mid-Columbia region will continue to see an increase in wind energy development.

White said he knows of at least three other companies besides Florida Power and Light looking to place turbines in Umatilla and Sherman counties.

And Oregon legislators are considering a bill that would allow even more wind energy plants to be built without having to obtain a permit from the state energy office.

"Senate Bill 843 is rapidly making its way through the Oregon Legislature," White said. "That bill excludes wind energy facilities that produce an average (annual) megawatt of 105 and below from getting site certification from our office. But it would still require local permits."

So far, all wind energy projects of which White is aware are planned for the state's northeastern region.

However, White said wind energy still won't make up a major portion of the Northwest's energy supply even with the Stateline and Vancycle Ridge projects.

"Hydropower is the biggest single source of power in the Northwest," he said. "All the nonhydro renewable resource combined -- wind, solar, geothermal -- produce less than 2 percent of the region's energy."

Bain first became interested in wind energy back in 1973 while taking an independent economic study class at Los Angeles Valley Junior College. He also worked the swing shift at Lockheed, the jet engine manufacturer.

"I was an aviation systems technician. A union member with a tool box," Bain said.

As part of his independent course, Bain interviewed a Lockheed scientist who was developing a 62-foot wind turbine blade.

Months later, the fellow asked Bain to join a team of scientists involved in a wind-energy analysis. For the next few years, Bain and the Lockheed team kept their heads in the clouds, tracking wind.

"We looked at everything from capital investment, to environmental issues, to the technology," he said. "We studied mixing wind with hydro power, mixing it with fuel, and the different markets for it, both commercial and residential."

After a stint as a wind energy specialist with the Oregon Department of Energy, Bain was ready to start his own private consulting business, finding work in the eastern regions of Washington and Oregon.

Bain told Umatilla County community members he'd be hard pressed to name a county with as much potential for wind projects. He said he expects the county to have nearly $1 billion in wind projects under development within the next couple of years.

Florida Power and Light applied for approval to place 151 turbines at the northeast end of the county as part of its Stateline Project. Typically, site approval takes a minimum of 13 months, said the state energy department's White. At peak capacity, Stateline turbines could produce 300 megawatts annually. But Stateline typically is expected to produce 100 megawatts each year.

Florida Power and Light did not submit its Stateline site application to Oregon's Office of Energy until January, and it's doubtful Oregon's turbines will spin this year.

"Washington's plant will be up and running well before Oregon's. The Washington plant should be running by year's end," Bain said.

Florida Power and Light did not release what it expects its wind power to cost. But Bain said a press release issued by the American Wind Energy Association said the cost of the Stateline project is 2.5 cents per kilowatt.

Florida Power and Light already has invested $34 million in the 38 turbines on Vancycle Ridge. Currently, Vancycle is only a 25-megawatt-a-year project. But Bain thinks if developed to capacity, Vancycle alone could produce twice as much energy as Stateline.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Vancycle produced 600 to 700 megawatts when it's completely finished," he said.

Bain thinks investing in renewable energy resources is the only economically feasible way to bring down energy prices. It makes the marketplace competitive.

And besides, he stressed, wind energy has very little negative impact on a community.

Not one raptor has been injured from the Vancycle project, he noted. And, according to field biologist studies, the Vancycle project has only killed less than one bird per turbine per year.

"More birds have been killed out on the highway or by running into smokestacks or by hitting other man-made objects," he said.