By Noi Mahoney
Editor

San Antonio-based H-E-B recently announced it would use wind energy to provide power for its area stores through Windtricity, wind energy supplied by CPS Energy through a West Texas windmill farm.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and other city and state officials recently made the announcement from the H-E-B Plus at 6818 S. Zarzamora St., one of the first in the supermarket chain to use energy from Windtricity.

“Let me thank H-E-B on stepping up on a very important issue for all of us,” said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff. “San Antonio’s going to be in a bit of a jam if we don’t do more to protect our clean air here. By using Windtricity, H-E-B is helping us. H-E-B is a great corporate citizen.”

All 46 H-E-B stores in the city will use the nonpolluting energy source to provide some of their power.

New H-E-B stores will receive up to 35 percent of its energy from wind power. All existing H-E-B stores in San Antonio will run off of 10 percent wind power. Combined, these totals provide enough energy to power 2,200 homes for a year.

The Windtricity program, which began five years ago, costs about $3 per 100-kilowatt hours of electricity. Windtricity is electricity generated energy from wind-powered turbines near Iraan in West Texas.

Windtricity’s Desert Sky Wind Farm in Iraan includes 107 turbines. American Electric Power owns the facility. CPS Energy purchases all power produced under long-term agreements with AEP.

Andrew C. Kasner, director of bird conservation for Audubon Texas at 10750 Pleasanton Road, said using wind turbines for energy is beneficial for everyone.

“One of the best things a business or individual can do is put a wind turbine on its building or property,” Kasner said. “But buying wind energy is good, because wind is a clean renewable source.”

Kasner said a possible downside to wind turbines –especially big industrial wind farms- is their affect on wildlife.

“The big issue is the location of wind farms,” Kasner said. “As long as it is located properly, bird impact and impact on wildlife should be minimal. West Texas, where Windtricity is located, is a fairly good place that doesn’t have significant impact on wildlife.”

Steve Valdez contributed to this article.