Desert wind project in the planning, Los Angeles

The Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles, USA has mailed notices that it will begin preparing a draft Environmental Impact Report for a proposed desert wind generating facility, it was announced today. The Pine Tree Wind project, which would be the nation's largest municipally owned wind plant, would provide up to 120 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power approximately 56,000 homes per year. Located about 12 miles north of Mojave and 6 miles west of Highway 14, the project consists of 80 1.5 megawatts wind turbine generators, a 10-mile transmission line and electrical substation.

The project is designed to reduce air pollution and dependence on fossil fuels, while helping meet anticipated growth in energy demand for Los Angeles, expected to average about 80 megawatts per year over the next 16 years. "The Pine Tree Wind project is an important piece of the city's efforts to increase its share of electrical generation capacity with clean and renewable energy sources," said Frank Salas, the department's acting general manager. At the request of the Los Angeles City Council, the department is currently developing a "renewable portfolio standard," with the goal of increasing its share of renewable generation to be consistent with the standard set by the state legislature for privately owned electric utilities.

In terms of environmental benefits, the Pine Tree Wind project is expected to lower emissions of nitrogen oxides by at least 8 tons per year and emissions of carbon monoxide by at least 11 tons per year. Also, emissions of carbon dioxide -- a "greenhouse" gas believed to contribute to global warming -- would be reduced by at least 200,000 tons per year. Letters announcing the notice of preparation of a draft environmental report were sent to all relevant federal, state, county, local public agencies and other interested parties.