By KEVIN ROBINSON-AVILA / JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
March 12th, 2022
Pattern Energy has installed hundreds of wind turbines in four sites around Corona. Together, they can generate more than a gigawatt of electricity, which the company will sell to utilities in California. (Eddie Moore/Journal)
Guadalupe, Lincoln and Torrance counties are now collectively supporting the electricity needs of nearly 1 million people through a massive new wind farm and transmission line in central New Mexico.
Pattern Energy officially dedicated its Western Spirit wind project in late February after more than a decade of development. The project includes four sprawling wind farms with a total of 377 turbines scattered throughout the three counties.
Together, they can generate more than a gigawatt of electricity, which Pattern Energy will sell to utilities in California.
That’s enough power to supply some 365,000 homes, or nearly a million people, said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham during the dedication ceremony on Feb. 24 in Corona, attended by public officials, and industry representatives from New Mexico and California.