Cattle and wind turbines share the land in the Panhandle and West Texas, where persistent winds turn 30-ton blades on top of 260-foot towers. The turbines turn the wind into electricity—a renewable, non-fossil fuel energy that can reduce carbon emissions.
But turning wind into electricity is one thing; moving the energy to a profitable market is another. Now, Texas is out to change that by conducting a vast experiment that might hold lessons for the rest of the United States.
This year, a sprawling network of new high-voltage power lines was completed, tying the Panhandle and West Texas to the millions of customers around Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and Houston, according to The New York Times.
The Texas Legislature began planning for the new lines in 2005 and was encouraged by federal tax credits only available to projects that broke ground by the end of 2013.
Wind energy is income for farmers and ranchers and their communities. In Carson County, the heart of the Panhandle, the county’s tax base was about $850 million last year and should exceed $1 billion this year.