Texas is the most productive state for wind power—by far. The Lone Star State pumps out 18,000 megawatts of energy a year,reports the MIT Technology Review.And that’s not counting an additional 5,500 megawatts of possible further capacity, which is equal to California’s entire installed wind capacity.
What’d driving this wind boom? It’s mostly generated by an $8 billion transmission system built to bring electricity from West Texas to the state’s big cities in the south and east. But this relatively new transmission system is already reaching capacity.
And Texas is learning how costly it can be to harness the wind. The current transmission system isn’t enough to handle the Lone Star State’s needs. And now the state is being forced to spend hundreds of millions more to upgrade the system. 4,000 megawatts of new generation are expected in the Panhandle over the next several years. But those projects could be curtailed if capacity isn’t increased.
