Massachusetts Company Has Big Plans for Beaver County’s Big Winds

By Amy Seigel, 11-26-06

With a population of 6,000, Beaver County may not have much in the way of cosmopolitan amenities, but it does have some very wide open spaces that often make for some pretty serious winds. And for UPC Wind Management LLC of Newton, Mass., those two elements make the sparely populated county in southern Utah a prime spot for a new, $400 million electricity-generating wind farm. According to Krista Kisch, the business development director for the company, "The Milford Valley creates a funnel effect that produces a great wind resource." Harnessing this resource will involve a wind farm that is set to encompass some 16,000 acres, and will potentially generate some 320 megawatts of power-enough juice to supply about 60,000 homes.

Fortunately, all involved parties seem committed to making UPC's proposed wind farm a reality. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the planning commission for Beaver County voted unanimously to grant a conditional land-use permit that will allow the company to begin construction immediately on the first phase of the project. The planning commission stipulated only that the project refrain from closing public roads or lands and from interfering with grazing rights in the surrounding area.

Once the farm is up and running, these permits will also allow UPC to sell the electricity to different utilities, including Rocky Mountain Power. Currently, according to Margaret Oler, spokeswoman for Rocky Mountain Power, said the utility currently buys its wind-generated electricity from farms in Wyoming and one on the Oregon and Washington state line.

With the green light from Beaver County's planning commission, UPC can begin the first and largest phase of the two-phase project--construction on the 80, 420-foot towers that are expected to generate 320 megawatts of power, and on transmission towers to carry a 345-kilovolt line to a substation at the Intermountain Power Project 90 miles to the north near Delta. The company also has plans for a second phase which would utilize land in Millard County to generate an additional 80 megawatts of power.

In today's volatile energy market, it's quite possible for wind power to compete with fossil fuels, and along with generating clean, earth-friendly power the new wind farm will also generate new jobs and additional income for the county. Up to 100 workers and about a dozen full-time maintenance people will be employed at the plant, and the project is expected to raise $1 million a year in taxes and royalties.

New jobs, income, and clean power--what more could Beaver County, or Utah, ask for? As the saying goes, "one man's atmospheric nuisance is another man's treasure." Kudos to UPC for having the vision to take advantage of the West's great, clean, and often overlooked resource--now all we need to do is lend our support. Rocky Mountain Power allows customers to buy electricity from renewable sources, adding $2 a month to bills to pursue research into renewable energy. For more information, visit Rocky Mountain Power's website.
[End of article]