Wind power in Arkansas remains nearly untapped, with just a single wind turbine in the state.[1][2] Arkansas does not have a renewable portfolio standard.[3] Studies have concluded that while Arkansas is generally considered to have low wind resources, there are significant pockets of it throughout the state.[4][5]
The Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC) purchases electrical power from wind farms outside the state, including[6] 51MW from Flat Ridge 2 Wind Farm in Kansas.[7][8] In 2013 AECC entered a long-term agreement to buy 150 megawatts of wind energy from Oklahoma from the RES Americas-built Origin Wind Farm, which has 75 turbines in Murray County and Carter County, Oklahoma, and came on line at the end of 2014.[9][10] It was taken over by Enel.[11]
In 2018, SWEPCO, an Arkansas utility, faced opposition to its $4.5 billion Wind Catcher project,[12][13] and indicated that ads opposing the project were being sponsored by an unknown non-profit, "Protect Our Pocketbooks".[14]
SWEPCO entered a settlement in which it agreed to "provide a number of guarantees, including a cap on construction costs, qualification for 100 percent of the federal Production Tax Credits, [and] minimum annual production from the project."[15]
The Wind Catcher project involved "acquisition of a 2,000-megawatt wind farm under construction in the Oklahoma Panhandle and construction of a 360-mile dedicated generation tie line to the Tulsa area, where the existing electrical grid ... [would] deliver the wind energy to customers."[14]
The Wind Catcher Energy Connection project was approved by the Arkansas Public Service Commission and the Louisiana Public Service Commission in 2018.[16][17]
Arkansas is home to one wind energy company, LM Windpower, which builds wind turbine blades at a plant in Little Rock,[18] and to 12 facilities involved in the wind energy industry, such as PPG Industries and ABB.[19]
A 100-foot wind turbine near Prairie Grove was the only turbine in the state.[20]
It is estimated that Arkansas could install 9,200 MW of wind generation capacity based on 80 meter hub height turbines. This could potentially generate 26.906 TWh of electricity each year.[21] In 2015 Arkansas used 46.346 TWh of electricity.[22] Raising the hub height to 110 meters, though, vastly increases the potential to 180,978 MW, capable of generating over 555 TWh of electricity each year.[23]