Wind power company opening new facilities in Abilene
October 15, 2007
FPL Group, ranked by Fortune magazine as one of America’s Most Admired Companies 2007, is setting up a “land office” in Abilene to support its wind-generated electric power operations in the region.
With annual revenues of nearly $16 billion, FPL Group is focused on energy-related products and services. Its utility subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Company, serves more than 4.5 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, the competitive energy subsidiary of FPL Group, is the largest generator of wind power in Texas and the United States. It plans to spend approximately $1 billion in the region over the next year, James L. Robo, president and chief operating officer of FPL Group, said recently in Abilene.
The company has 12 wind turbine sites in West Texas, including the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Taylor (Abilene) and Nolan counties. Horse Hollow is the nation’s largest wind farm with 421 turbines providing 735 megawatts of power. Texas leads the nation in wind energy.
FPL Group plans to make Abilene one of its central locations for housing land agents, who will work to secure long-term leases from landowners to continue development of wind farms in the region. “Because of the concentration of work going on in this area, it makes sense for us to have a portion of our operations located in the Abilene area,” FPL Energy spokesman Steve Stengel said. The Abilene land office, located in the Alexander Building in downtown Abilene, could eventually grow to 20 or 25 employees.
In addition to opening the land office, FPL Group has opened a warehouse facility in Abilene that will act as the central location for parts distribution for Texas and the western portion of the United States.
FPL Group also has plans to build a $650 million high voltage direct current transmission line from West Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This project, if approved by state regulators, will open up West Texas to significant new investments in wind power.
