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The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) today released the following statement by AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher on the natural gas crisis currently facing the US. The high price of natural gas is the backdrop for the Energy Information Administration (EIA)'s winter outlook report released today: "Using more wind power can quickly and effectively help alleviate the natural gas crisis and stabilize volatile prices--the more wind power the U.S. installs, the less natural gas and other fuels are needed for electricity generation. Wind farms can be installed quickly--typically within two years, with construction requiring less than six months, faster than new fields can be drilled or liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals built -- and they generate jobs as well as clean, domestic, inexhaustible energy. This year alone, wind farms already in place (6,740 megawatts (MW)) and those that will be installed by the end of the year (an additional 2,500 MW) could save over half a billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas per day in 2006.
If an additional 6,000 MW of new wind power are installed over the next three years--a conservative estimate if the production tax credit is extended before it expires in 2007-- the U.S. could top 15,000 MW of installed wind power capacity by the end of 2008, which would save nearly 0.9 Bcf/day by the end of this decade and help reduce pressure on natural gas prices. In the interest of the economy, of consumers, and of the environment, wind power should be a large part of a "silver buckshot" to resolve the current energy crisis." For more information contact Christine Real de Azua at (202) 383-2508. ### AWEA, formed in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry. The association’s membership includes turbine manufacturers, wind project developers, utilities, academicians, and interested individuals. More information on wind energy is available at the AWEA web site: www.awea.org |
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© 2005 by the American Wind Energy Association. |
