By Elana Gordon
Wichita, KS – Kansas utilities, developers, public officials, and advocates, are convening at Wichita State University to develop plans for wind energy throughout the state. Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson created the Kansas Wind Working Group at the kickoff of the 2008 legislative session. The 33 member group is meeting for the first time. Ruth Douglas Miller, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Kansas State University, is a member of the group and says that it gives diverse stakeholders in wind energy the chance to get to know one another.
"If we can all get in one room and talk, I think it should make some really cool progress in terms of a positive face on where we should go with wind in this state," Miller said.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Powering America initiative is providing funding for the Kansas Wind Working Group. Governor Sebelius aims to make 10 percent of the state's energy production wind driven by 2010.