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Wind Farms To Provide Economic Boost

The winds of change have things moving quickly in a wind farm project in Willacy County. Last year, Duke Energy announced plans to build a large-scale renewable energy system in Raymondville that will generate 400 megawatts of electricity, enough to power roughly 120000 homes. Now, construction is set to begin later in the month on a 30 thousand acre facility said Milton Howard, Duke Energy vice president. "The nature of the wind here is on peak," said Howard. "Meaning the wind blows at 8 a.mm it shuts down at 6 at night. So people are using power as the wind is blowing." The farm is on fm 507 and fm 1018. Howard says there will be 171 finished wind mills by the end of December. "Then they will be testing and completing the plant for commercial operation by December of 2012," said Howard. The duke energy wind power project, roughly 20 miles inland from the gulf say wind energy will help create around 300 jobs and bring needed money into our area. Wind farms have come under criticism for reportedly posing a threat to the environment, to migratory birds and for purchasing turbines in other countries. Duke, a company based in North Carolina, said although generators will be purchased overseas, many items will be bought right here in the Rio Grande Valley such as steel and concrete. They said they've collected wind data at the site for several years before proceeding with an environmental analysis. "There's no emission into the air," said Howard. "There's no escalation as far ...