Possible explanation for Mystery Sites in Northern Kiowa and Southern Washita Counties: "GOTEBO Enel Green Power North America officially dedicated its Rocky Ridge Wind Project farm west of town last week.
The wind farm, which represented a multimillion-dollar investment by the firm, has been in operation since June of 2012. The 150-megawatt wind farm sprawls over a large area of northern Kiowa and southern Washita counties and includes has turbines that generate more than 600 million kilowatt hours of renewable electricity a year — enough to power approximately 45,000 households and avoid emission of more than 450,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually.
The electricy generated at the wind farm is sold to Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, which is headquartered in Anadarko. Richard Ross of Western Farmers said that his firm, in turn, provides the power to 22 area electric cooperatives in Oklahoma and New Mexico. One of those cooperatives is Kiwash Electric Cooperative in Cordell, which provides electrical power to rural residents in Kiowa and Washita counties.
Ross said Western Farmers purchases the electricity from the Rocky Ridge Wind Project farm rather than own it outright. However, he said the cooperative does own 14 natural gas generation units and one coal-fired power plant. He said when the firm purchases electrical power from Rocky Ridge and seven other wind farms in Oklahoma and New Mexico, Western Farmers is also buying "renewable attributes" that serve as the key to the "green" in the energy and meeting a state mandate ahead of schedule."
Here is a LINK to more information about Rocky Ridge Wind Farm, Phase One: http://www.tradewindenergy.com/Project.aspx?id=1630
FYI, folks: http://online.wsj.com/articles/merrill-matthews-anti-fracking-laws-vs-property-rights-1406848564. Check this out by clicking the link.
P.S. I look forward to reading your comments on the WSJ article I just provided the link for. Let's get a discussion going! BTW, our membership has tripled in less than a year.
It's about bloody time!
If you all remember Tom's post (5 threads down), concerning the lesser prairie chicken, then you'll love this...
Defense bill could determine the fate of the lesser prairie chicken
The House Armed Services Committee added an amendment to the defense policy bill, blocking special protections for the greater sage grouse. Democrats railed against the measure, arguing that endangered species matters had no place in a defense bill. They were defeated 36 to 26 anyways.
Representative Austin Scott from Georgia said this:
"This is a perfect example I believe of the abuse of the Endangered Species Act and how it's being used to shut down military installations in the economy,"
He then pointed out that the greater sage grouse is legally hunted in Georgia.
Now, Republicans are looking to duplicate this feat, but for the lesser prairie chicken – scourge of the plains.
Thanks for "bird-dogging" (pardon the bad pun) this issue, Clayton. Keep up the good work!
The following is a sponsored (paid) promotional notice:
If you own minerals in Texas or New Mexico, consider attending the NARO – Texas convention in San Antonio July 18-20, 2018. They have a great agenda, good speakers, and the cost is reasonable. This year also includes a special session for New Mexico mineral owners. The current agenda draft is attached, and a link to their signup and information page is http://www.naro-us.org/event-2824234
Attachment: 2018-04-30%20-%20NARO-TX%20Convention%20Agenda%20%28Hyatt%29%20invite.pdf