Pickens ‘anxious’ about wind farm project

Articles — By forcechange on December 9, 2008 11:23 am

Pickens held a briefing with reporters on Monday where he discussed the status of his massive Texas Panhandle wind farm project, as well as the state of energy, in general.

Regarding the Panhandle project, Pickens said that he is “anxious” since the economic and credit crises threaten to choke off financing for the project.  “Where’s the money is the question. I don’t know how we’ll do it. I’m anxious to see what Obama comes up with. There is no money to finance a wind project now,” Pickens stated.

Pickens reiterated his warning that when the economy rebounds, prices will spike again, potentially even to $100 by next year.  He also said that Obama’s policies will play a key role in determining whether efforts to effect an energy transformation will occur.  Specifically, extending tax credits for alternative energy and promoting natural gas usage for heavy duty vehicles will be essential.

Earlier this year, Pickens’ company Mesa Power began the first phase of the Panhandle wind farm by purchasing over 600 wind turbines.  While the future of that project is somewhat up in the air, as Pickens noted, “We don’t receive turbines until late 2010, so you’ve got some time for a recovery and we’ll see where we go from there.”

Photo credit.