Rob:  In 2007, we increased our nation’s total wind generating capacity by nearly fifty percent.  These new wind projects have sprung up across Oklahoma, pumping millions into our economy.  Our Alisa Hines visited one such wind farm and tells us this homegrown energy is not only clean, but also very efficient.
Alisa:  We’ve all seen what it can do to a fire.  And we’ve seen what it can do to our homes.  But now it’s being put to a non-destructive use, power.  Wind power.  Wind generated power that’s good for the environment.  Alec Dreyer is the CEO for Horizon Wind Energy.
Alec Dreyer:  Well, there are no emissions.  There are no pollutants or anything like that, that are emitted, unlike more traditional generation.  So it’s absolutely perfect.  We take up less than about three percent of the land area in a wind farm with the actual turbines and people can actually farm and produce right up next to our turbines.  So it’s very good for the land.
Alisa:  Wayne Walker is the director of project development for Horizon Wind Energy, and says there is an economic benefit to the landowner.
Wayne Walker:  In most cases, wind farms are a great way for rural landowners to diversify their current cash crops, be it from agriculture or ranching operations, because they only take up about three percent of the surface area of the land, and we can design them in a way so that their other income sources aren’t impacted.
Lynn Ann Dietrich:  It’s primarily for cattle anyway, and they didn’t use a lot of acres.
Alisa:  Lynn Ann Dietrich is a landowner who benefits from the wind farm.
Lynn Ann Dietrich:  It didn’t disturb a lot of acres that we were using, and so it’s really just kind of a benefit as far as income.
Alisa:  And at a time when gas prices are soaring, wind power may be a solution for high bills.  Stuart Solomon is president for the Public Service Company of Oklahoma.
Stuart Solomon:  It’s because the energy coming from this facility is priced at such that it can go right on our system and actually save our customers some money.
Alisa:  Now Oklahoma ranks high in the nation in producing wind generated electricity.
Stuart Solomon:  Well, Oklahoma is one of the top five states in the country from a wind energy perspective, and I see that only getting better for the state.  We have such a wonderful wind resource in this state, and the industry is now starting to harness that resource that we have here and have it in abundance.
Alisa:  Creating an economic impact that’s sweeping down the plains.