Dive Summary:

• Caithness Energy’s Shepherds Flat, the nation’s second-largest wind farm, officially began operations on Saturday in north-central Oregon.
• The 845-MW farm is comprised of 338 turbines and will send power to Southern California Edison as part of a 20-year agreement.
• Shepherds Flat was finished just before the expiration of a federal production tax credit for wind generation.

From the article:

With the pending expiration of the production tax credit for wind threatening to put the kibosh on new projects, the nation’s second-largest wind farm, an array of 338 turbines scattered over thousands of acres of wind-buffeted hills just south of the Columbia River in north-central Oregon, officially began full operations on Saturday.

Along with cheers from renewable energy advocates, the completion of Caithness Shepherds Flat brought reminders of the heavy subsidies that supported its development -- and, ironically, highlighted the gloomy state of the wind industry in the United States in the waning days of the PTC. ...