L.A. Utility To Build Wind Facility

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest US municipal utility, is planning to build a 120 megawatt wind power facility, L.A. mayor Jim Hahn said.

The Pine Tree Wind project, to be constructed in the Mojave Desert about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, is scheduled to begin operation in July 2004. It would supply enough power for more than 100,000 households, Hahn said in a statement.

The LADWP's board of commissioners will consider the $162 million project at its board meeting on Tuesday and it must also receive the backing of the city council. The project would be constructed by Wind Turbine Prometheus LLC.

Hahn said the project would be the largest municipally owned wind plant in the U.S.

The largest wind facility in the U.S. is FPL Energy's 300 MW Stateline Wind Energy Center on the Washington-Oregon border. FPL Energy is a unit of Juno Beach, Florida-based FPL Group Inc.

Source: Reuters