City of Portland Looking at Wind Resource

Picture shown was given to the Tribune "courtesy of" Gorge Community College. That's a real live Oregon wind project sharing agricultural land.

The city of Portland has had a goal of 100% renewable power for a while. As with even homeowners looking at the carbon footprint and energy needs such a task sometimes is easier said than done.

The Portland Tribune reports several interesting facts as it relates to Portland's project.

Not mentioned in the article. The fact that electricity is likely to increase above inflation (actually being a significant driver of inflation in the U.S. economy). The fact that these initial easy to locate and grid-tie wind resources are limited in number. The fact that long-term (over a decade) this investment will save the city a great deal of money and guarantee a longtime resource that will only get more efficient.

Also worth mention is that going for wind today would be the equivalent for investing in hydro seventy five years ago. The resource is limited and the first movers to acquire, tap, an use the resource will likely own it forever.

Its a smart move for the city. Long-term without any CO2 considerations at all it makes sense just to guarantee the city a resource with a set maintenance budget as opposed to commodity pricing.