Pickens Plan

The Pickens Plan is an energy policy proposal announced July 8, 2008 by American businessman T. Boone Pickens. Pickens wants to reduce American dependence on imported oil by investing approximately $US1 trillion in new wind turbine farms for power generation, which he believes would allow the natural gas currently used for power generation to be shifted to fuel CNG trucks and other heavy vehicles. Pickens stated that his plan could reduce by $300 billion (43%) the amount the country spends annually on foreign oil.

The main proposals of the plan are:

Pickens thinks his plan that would provide 22% of electricity from wind power and the conversion for vehicles from gasoline to gas could be accomplished in less than 10 years with the right leadership. However, according to Chuck McGowin, senior project manager at the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit organization funded by the electric power industry, the time table is too tight. Dave Hamilton, director for global warming and energy projects at the Sierra Club agrees "That is extremely aggressive ... But it's in the right direction. It's a good thing we have an oilman saying we can't drill our way out of this problem." Former U.S. vice president Al Gore, who has spent recent years informing people about global warming, opines that all electricity generation should be completely fossil-fuel free in the next 10 years.

Wind power had been experiencing exponential growth in the United States for several years when Pickens announced his plan. Wind power in Texas grew very rapidly, 2400% from 1999 to 2007. In another large state, California, wind generation increased by 48% in the same period. The cost of wind power generation has decreased by about 80% over the last 20 years because of technological advances and is now cost-competitive with other energy sources. Wind-generated electricity can be produced at 5 to 6 cents per kWh.

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