Is Buffalo Poised for the Opportunities

that Beckon?

Recently a front page article in the Harper County Journal revealed a purchase agreement for Gestamp Wind to acquire a 765 Megawatt wind project in Harper County, Oklahoma. This development will be North of Buffalo and is likewise referred to as "North Buffalo". "North Buffalo" is the first major project for renewable energy in North America for this 6 Billion dollar company. Gestamp is a company that originates in the European country of Spain.



With the development of the wind energy industry in Northwest Oklahoma and Southwest Kansas there is an increasing need for transmission lines to carry the harnessed energy within the Southwest Power Pool. SPP is a 9 state regional transmission organization. The SPP was mandated by the Federal Regulatory Commission to ensure reliable supplies of power. The SPP's planning process has identified limitations of the current transmission systems which has led to the development of new transmission projects in our immediate region of the Southwest Power Pool. With these upgrade plans two major transmission projects have been planned for Buffalo's regional area.

The first one of these is the "Prairie Wind Transmission Project". This project is for a 765- kilovolt transmission line. This extra-high voltage transmission line, that is envisioned, will be the first project of its type west of the Mississippi River. It runs from Wichita, Kansas to Medicine Lodge and then over to Dodge City, Kansas. The projected cost for this project is $600 million and is targeted to be complete by the year 2013.



The second transmission project planned is the "Tallgrass Transmission Project" that will carry energy between Woodward and Guymon Oklahoma. This project will also have a North and South leg that will connect the "Tallgrass Project" to the "Prairie Wind Project" in the Medicine Lodge, Kansas area. The two Tallgrass Transmission Projects in Northwest Oklahoma are estimated to cost about $500 million to develop. The anticipated completion date, for those transmission lines in Oklahoma, is by 2010.



By looking at the Tallgrass Transmission Project map you can see that Buffalo is sitting smack dab in the middle of a lot of activity on the horizon. It is sitting right in the middle of over One Billion Dollars worth of transmission line construction activity. Then you have the mammoth "North Buffalo Wind Farm" which may make other Harper county wind farms look pale in comparison.

There are worldly, influential people, willing to invest their money and resources in Harper County and northwest Oklahoma. A multi billion dollar company from Europe is putting money into the wind farm North of Buffalo. A multi billionaire, well known throughout the world, has positioned a sales outlet for one of his companies in Northwest Oklahoma - Woodward. You may have driven by it a time or two. It is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire's board of Directors consist of: Warren Buffet, Bill Gates et al. The business is "Clayton Homes".

We have a multi-billion dollar company harnessing wind. We have a billion dollars worth of transmission lines planned all around us. And then we have Warren Buffet a multi-billionaire positioning one of his companies to sell houses in the middle of all of this.

What can this mean for Buffalo and Northwest Oklahoma?
Is it a chance for us to grow our local economy?
Is it a once in a lifetime chance to recruit and retain business?
Is it an opportunity for a population increase instead of the trendy decline that been the norm?
Some of these things may occur without any local help or they might not. The significance of this opportunity could affect everyone that lives here. We are all a part of our local economy in one way or another.
Will our future economy be a healthy one?
Do our leaders, our Chamber of Commerce, our Economic Developers, and the private sector have the vision to latch on to this chance?
Who will lead Buffalo towards harnessing the economic wind for a robust growing community?