From earth2tech:
T. Boone Pickens, the oil-baron-turned-wind-power-wildcatter, keeps bumping up the estimated cost of the world’s largest wind farm, which he’s building in Texas. Pickens tells the Living On Earth radio show that the whole 4,000 megawatt wind project, including the cost of building his own transmission lines, will cost a bloomin’ $12 billion....MORE
Here's Katie Fehrenbacher's choice pullquote:
Pickens is willing to spend another $2 billion on building transmission lines for his massive wind farm, instead of waiting for the state or a utility to build them. He just can’t wait for slow-moving third parties to hold him back. In true Pickens style he explains his reasoning to Living on Earth:
So to fit the schedule of when we’re gonna be ready to start spinning, which will be the last of 2011, we need to have transmission in place at that time, and this is the only way we can time it to work that way. And, see, everything has gotta happen fast for me, because I’m 80 years old.
Gotta love that.
*Back in March I made this point in a comment at the WSJ's Environmental Capitol:
...3)Ceres members have $5,000,000,000,000 in (mainly) pension assets. They have invested $1,700,000,000 in renewable energy.If my abacus is working right, that is 1/30 of 1% of assets.Not exactly walking the walk.Surely they could have put 50 Bil. (1%) into wind farms?If T. Boone Pickens can commit up to $6 Bil. @ age 80...
