News

• Please contact us for free, no-obligation detailed information and sample landowner renewable energy association operating agreement.
• Dakota Plains Energy is proud to have helped assemble one of the first landowner associations in the Upper Midwest.
• During Berkshire Hathaway's 2009 annual meeting, the world's most famous investor, Warren Buffett, informed shareholders he'd invested heavily into wind power. The conglomerate's major utility, MidAmerican Energy, has increased their wind generated power from zero to a fifth of capacity, by investing $1.8 billion in 2008, making it the biggest owner of wind power of any utility in the U.S.
• On February 9, 2009, Independent Transmission Company (ITC) announced the Green Power Express project, a network of high-voltage transmission lines spread across the Midwest. This 3,000 mile project would contain 12,000 megawatts of wind generated power and much of it would follow the Dakotas "wind corridor".
• It was noted in a US Dept of Energy Report that wind uses less than 1/600 as much water per unit of electricity produced as does nuclear, and approximately 1/500 as much as coal.
• On February 10, 2009, the US Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee heard testimony on a bill to establish a national Renewable Electricity Standard. If the bill passes, the amount of US electricity mandated from renewable energy sources would begin a gradual increase to 4% in 2011, 8% in 2013, 12% in 2016, 16% in 2019 and 20% in 2021.
• In 1970 the US imported 24% of our oil; today we import over 63%. In 2009 the United States spent $265 billion on foreign oil, or $500,000.00, per minute.
• Francisco Blanch, the Merrill Lynch analyst who called the July 2008 oil peak dead-on, says that, at the current rate, global output could shrink by 30 million barrels per day by 2015. This means that every two years the world needs to replace an amount of crude output equivalent to Saudi Arabia's current production. The slide could push black gold prices higher as soon as next year (2010). (Business Week 2/23/09)
• In January 2009, the U.S. Dept. of Energy predicted the U.S. demand for electricity is likely to grow 40 percent in the next 22 years. This means the need for new power lines will only increase. (National Wind Watch 1/7/09)
• It takes 10 to 14 working days, spread across a three-month period, to build a tower because workers have to allow tower foundations to cure and have to install other underground plants and all the needed wiring. Twenty-seven truckloads of concrete are required per base. A substation also must be built to collect the turbines' power. It takes a minimum of 10 months to build a farm with 50 turbines that can generate 100MW of power, but actual construction time often runs about a year for that size of development. A 50 turbine development typically creates 100 construction jobs. Once operational, job creation is expected to range from 1:5 to 1:10 turbines/techs.
• Building new high-voltage (765kV) transmission lines can cost up to $1m per mile. One 765kV (22,000MW capacity) line has the capacity of six 345kV lines (usually the largest lines found in the Midwest).
• On October 1, 2009, the new successor as the world's largest wind farm operating came online. The Roscoe Wind Complex began construction in 2007 and sprawls across four counties in west central Texas. It encompasses over 100,000 acres with 400 participating landowners. Roscoe Wind contains 627 turbines (1 per 160 acres) for a total of 781.5MW. The total project cost exceeded $1.5 billion. Moving to second place is the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, located in central Texas, consisting of 421 turbines with a nameplate totaling 736MW. The farm is spread over 47,000 acres, or 1 turbine per 112 acres. The first phase of 142 turbines (213MW) was completed in late 2005; phase two consisted of 149 turbines (223.5MW) and was completed in 2Q 2006; the final phase went online at the end of 2006.
• During the last presidential campaign, now-President Obama proposed a Federal Renewable Standard of 25% by 2025. The US Dept of Energy calls for 20% wind power by 2030.
• The U.S. Dept. of Energy announced that South Dakota alone has the ability to power 50% of the US electrical demands. It also stated SD has the potential to generate over 117,000 MW of wind power, which translates to approximately $250 billion wind power generation facilities in the state.
• It is estimated one megawatt of wind power can power 300 homes per year. Currently less than 2% of US energy is generated by wind with an installed capacity of 25,400 megawatts.