Momentum building for wind energy in Nebraska/USA

Wind power can generate crucial economic development dollars/Euros for rural communities, schools, farmers and ranchers, said Chuck Hayes, director of special projects for the Centre for Rural Affairs.
The Centre for Rural Affairs and the Nebraska Farmers Union will be hosting education and information meetings next month across Nebraska, USA to ascertain what potential it has of reaping this renewable energy source. In addition, according to Hayes, producing electricity from wind power is the cornerstone of the proposed legislation brought forward by Senator Donald Preister of Omaha.

Wind turbines are sprouting up in surrounding states, such as Iowa, South Dakota and Colorado. In Colorado, voters passed a ballot initiative on Nov. 2 mandating that 10 percent of the state's electricity be produced by wind. The amendment includes a standard net metering system for farmers, ranchers and homeowners. The ballot initiative came about after four unsuccessful attempts in the statehouse to pass the initiative.

Nebraska has the sixth best wind potential in the nation, yet only 0.5 percent of the state's electricity comes from wind. "We are lagging far behind all of the rest of the top 10 wind resource states in developing wind energy," Hansen said. "We need to figure out how our state can not only develop our wind energy resources, but do it in a fashion that provides the most economic benefit to economically depressed rural Nebraska." Hayes said while the will is there with the state's people, the job is to get lawmakers, who have blocked past attempts to develop wind energy in Nebraska, to make it happen.