Urban Texas to be Powered by Rural Wind

Texas regulators have approved a $4.93 billion wind-power transmission project, providing a major lift to the development of wind energy in the state. The planned web of transmission lines will carry electricity from remote western parts of the state to major population centers like Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The lines can handle 18,500 megawatts of power, enough for 3.7 million homes on a hot day when air-conditioners are running. The project should be a boon for Texas power customers, whose electricity costs have risen in conjunction with soaring natural gas prices across the state. "There's nothing volatile about the wind in terms of the price, because it's free,"said Southwest regional development director for Horizon Wind Energy, Vanessa Kellogg. Read more.