Wind farm 'mega-project' underway in Mojave Desert

[jpak]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-windfarm-20100727,0,7972223.story?track=rss

The Alta Wind Energy Center — with plans for thousands of acres of turbines to generate electricity for 600,000 Southern California homes — officially breaks ground Tuesday.

nd now it's finally kicking into gear.

The multibillion-dollar Alta Wind Energy Center has had a tortured history, stretching across nearly a decade of ownership changes, opposition from local residents and transmission infrastructure delays.

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But on Tuesday, the project is officially breaking ground in the Tehachapi Pass, a burgeoning hot spot for wind energy about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. When completed, Alta could produce three times as much energy as the country's largest existing wind farm, analysts said. It's slated to be done in the next decade.

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[BonnieJW]

1. Fabulous.

That place isn't good for much else.

[mike_c]

2. it's one of the last great places left in America.... (dialup warning)

The Mojave desert:












The Tehachapi wind farm to date:

[tinrobot]

5. You forgot to mention...

That the wide open spaces in your pictures are mostly in/around Joshua Tree National Monument, which is over 100 miles away from Tehachapi.

Tehachapi is a city of 12,000 that is mostly surrounded by developed farmland. It's located in the foothills just outside of Palmdale/Lancaster/Mohave, which has a population of over 250,000.

[JohnWxy]

3. Hey, what about the grasshoppers on their way to Utah? poor little buggers (or bugs, rather).

recommended!

[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. There have been wind projects in that area for 25 or more years

Kind of curious where they are going to find new/good ground for it. Its already pretty dense up there.