Don Brunell

Too much wind power?

Could Washington and Oregon’s growing fleet of wind turbines become too much of a good thing? Perhaps.

At present, there are more than 2,200 megawatts of wind energy flowing through the Pacific Northwest at any given time. That is enough electricity to light Seattle and Portland for one hour. State and federal energy policy encourages the development of more wind projects and developers have received billions of dollars in incentives.

Wind power is touted as the cleanest and greenest renewable energy resource. “You’ve got a non-carbon-emitting source of energy that’s free,...