Wind energy takes off in Amarillo

AMARILLO – The Texas Panhandle’s wind energy industry is about to be blown away. An international mix of companies has committed to more than doubling the region’s production capacity by spending more than an estimated $3.3 billion on construction of wind farms in the next two years.

The area currently has the capability of producing about 1,500 megawatts, but that will go up by another 1,644 megawatts if projects now under contract go through.

Cross Texas Transmission and Sharyland Utilities are approaching the end of construction of transmission lines that will take locally produced electricity to places like Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston.

Cross Texas has finished its Phase I construction from near Childress to south of Pampa and then to the White Deer area.

Cross Texas’ Phase II facilities are approximately 70 percent complete with construction, said Cameron Fredkin, director of project development at Cross Texas. Completion of the Phase II facilities is expected late summer or early fall. The company is building more than 200 miles of line at a cost of about $425 million.

Sharyland is making progress on several segments of 300 miles of line it is building in the Panhandle and South Plains, including the one running north and then east from Hereford to White Deer.

The company expects to meet the Dec. 31 deadline set by the state for putting the lines into service. The estimated cost is about $630 million.