Billionaire Pickens Shelves Massive Wind Farm Project in Texas

Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens has shelved his plan to build the world’s biggest wind farm in Texas, citing a tight credit market, low natural gas prices, and inadequate transmission lines. The ambitious 4,000-megawatt wind farm plan — which would have included 100,000 wind turbines and 40,000 miles of transmission lines to large cities — was the centerpiece of the Texas oilman’s high-profile plan to help break the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. The project was estimated to cost $10 billion. “Boone still remains committed and focused on developing wind energy in the United States,” Jay Rosser, spokesman for Pickens’s BP Capital Management, said. “The timing is not as aggressive as he originally outlined because of the collapse of the capital markets and because of the steep downturn of natural gas prices.” Pickens may sell some of his wind turbines to wind power developers in the Midwest and Canada.