News.bytes Extra, issue 442

Interior official helps dedicate California wind farm

Ned Farquhar, Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals, helped dedicate one of the nation’s largest wind farms and toured oil and gas fields this week.

On Tuesday, Fahrquhar participated in the dedication of the Alta wind energy project in Tehachapi Pass. The project includes turbines and transmission lines on land managed by the BLM’s Ridgecrest Field Office. (text continues below)

Farquhar also met with employees in BLM’s Bakersfield Field Office and visited oil and gas fields in the area this week.

Southern California Edison agreed in 2006 to buy 1,550 megawatts of electricity from Alta over 25 years, one of the largest power purchase agreements. That would be twice the capacity of the country's largest existing wind farm, a 735-megawatt project in Texas.

Terra-Gen is building Alta as a collection of wind farms; it has finished funding and started building the first group of five. By 2015, another 300 turbines are expected to be producing an additional 830 megawatts. 

- David Christy, BLM Central California District, 7/28/10

BLM-California News.bytes, issue 442