Can wind generation produce cheaper electricity? A report recently released by Wall Street buy-side research firm Bernstein Research says wind generation in Texas is lowering the cost of electricity because wind farms reduce the reliance on more expensive power generation, such as gas or coal-fired power plants.
The report says the decline of electric prices will likely continue as more wind farms come online. The lone start state is the world’s sixth wind power producer.
The report, which was well quoted by the Wall Street Journal’s Environmental Capital, highlights:
[A]t hours of relatively low power demand, it will no longer be necessary to dispatch high cost gas fired generators to meet the prevailing load; rather, the system’s wind, nuclear and coal fired power plants will be sufficient to meet demand. As power prices are set by the variable cost of operation of the last unit dispatched, wind can have a material impact on the price of power.
Over the long-term, according to Bernstein, the growth of wind power will lower the consumption of coal and gas.
While a positive trend, it’s also important to note that today gas and coal-fired plants, unlike wind, are the only energy sources able to meet peak electricity demand, which often occurs when wind generation is the least efficient– during the day or in the often windless, hot summers when ACs are cranked up.
The theme of this year’s Renewable Energy World Conference in Austin, Texas, which we’re attending, is: “Power Shift.”
A poor economy and a dried-up credit market have not slowed the pace of construction of wind farms in 2009. According 
