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    Pickens Puts $2 Billion Bet On Wind Power and Expects An Advance Bailout From Congress

    http://nationaleconomist.com/blog/2008/05/15/pickens-puts-2-...
    71 days ago in WordPress › Installation · Authority: 28

    Pickens Puts $2 Billion Bet On Wind Power and Expects An Advance Bailout From Congress Filed under: T. Boone Pickens — Robert Wegner @ 10:37 am In our book, T. Boone Pickens is one of the smartest men in the energy business. His latest move is a $2 billion bet on wind power as part of the first of a four-phase project to build the world’s largest wind farm in Texas, AP is reporting. Pickens said the total cost of the deal will grow considerably after the initial investment in General Electric Co. turbine technology. Pickens’ Mesa Power said the Pampa Wind Project in the Texas Panhandle will eventually cover 400,000 acres and generate enough power for more than 1.3 million homes. “We are making Pampa the wind capital of the world,” Pickens said. “You find an oilfield, it peaks and starts declining, and you’ve got to find another one to replace it,” Pickens said in a statement. “With wind, there’s no decline curve.” Power from the project will begin coming on line in early 2011, he said. But Pampa winds aren’t the only thing Pickens is counting on. Pickens made clear, at a news conference today, that the industry has relied on federal tax credits to survive. Which means that Pickens is counting in Washington DC based hot air and cold hard cash. I call it an “bailout in advance” program.