Fargo, ND – North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad has announced he will introduce wind energy legislation which includes 500-million dollars over the next four years.
He says one of the major economic opportunities for the state is wind energy. He says North Dakota has the greatest potential to produce power of any state in the nation. Conrad says farmers and ranchers will benefit from
wind energy development and estimates show that payments to them could equal 4 million dollars for every two-thousand megawatts of wind energy production.
Conrad says first his plan will extend the valuable wind energy credit for another five years.
"Industry has told us if we are able to extend this credit for five years--they will make literally hundreds of millions of dollars of investment here in North Dakota. I have had one company alone that has come to me and told me--Senator, if you can get this done, we will make 800 million dollars of investment in North Dakota over the next several years. That is an enormous boost to the North Dakota economy if we can get it to occur."
Conrad says the plan also makes it easier for North Dakota farmers and ranchers to develop wind energy resources.
"My plan provided for grants and loans to farmers and ranchers and allows producers to put wind turbines on CRP land. Here we've got thousands of acres of CRP land--it's perfect as a generator for wind energy. But we've got to have legislative authority to allow farmers to put turbines on that land. And it means investment and so we provide grants of up to $200,000 to get that job done. That's provided in the legislation as well."
Conrad says the legislation would authorize increased federal funding for wind energy research and development programs. He says the plan also calls for developing wind energy facilities on North Dakota's abundant public
lands.
Conrad spoke at the 13th annual Marketplace of Ideas at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks.