I was reading in today's Evansville Courier & Press that our local utility, Vectren, has purchased 30 megawatts of wind power from a wind farm in northern Indiana. At long last, customers here will be able to purchase wind power (at a rate of an additional $2.00-$3.00 per block of wind power). This service will be available as of next spring and will be an option for both residential and commercial customers.

My biggest fear is that the local consumer, who seems to want the cheapest electric rates available, will not back Vectren's efforts and that the whole effort will fall apart. I truly hope I am wrong, as I hope to purchase as much wind power as feasible from this plan. Although this purchase will come no where close to meeting all of the consumer's energy needs, I really applaud Vectren for taking this step and trying to give at least some of the customers--those who actually care about renewables--what they want. If the market is there, I am sure that Vectren will seek to expand the wind energy delivery plan. So it is really up to us as the consumers to show this utility that the people really do want something other than just coal, even if it costs a bit more.