Three Metrics -- December 16, 2014

IPs
Active rigs
Wells waiting to be completed

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Putting Things Into Perspective

Do me a favor. Go to this link on wind energy. Then, when you get to the link, scroll down a bit, and on the left you will see a drop down menu in which you can "select a state." Select Massachusetts and you will see the wind energy data for Massachusetts, current as of 3Q14. For all of their talk about "green energy," Massachusetts has:

• installed wind capacity: 107 MW
• wind capacity under construction: 0 MW
• in 2013, wind energy provided 0.6% of all in-state electricity production
• in 2013, more energy was wasted in Massachusetts on writing about wind energy than actually producing wind energy

Now, to put that into perspective, look what just one utility in western North Dakota will be doing:

Basin Electric Power Cooperative will double its power derived from wind energy by 2016.

Basin is expecting its load to grow by more than 1,883 megawatts by 2035, CEO Paul Sukut told members at the cooperative’s annual meeting on Wednesday. About 1,600 megawatts of that new demand will be coming from the Williston Basin.

By the end of the year, Basin will be generating or purchasing 5,478 megawatts of power. With the projected increase in demand, that will be above 7,000 megawatts per hour in 20 years. 

But just look at that. For all their talk, Massachusetts has zero, nada, zilch wind projects under construction; and the entire state has just 107 MW in wind generated electricity, accounting for 0.6% all electricity generated in the state.

But here:

Basin currently has 712.7 megawatts of wind generation. It will purchase power from other generators to increase that number to 1,400 megawatts of wind generation over the next two years.

And that "Williston Basin"? Basically that's Williams County and McKenzie County. Williston and Watford City.

I am not in favor of wind on so many levels, for so many reasons, but if that's what the folks want, that's what they will get. I'm just amazed at what North Dakotans are quietly doing day in and day out while folks in Massachusetts talk a good story.