Renewable energy firm doubles down on western wind projects

A California-based renewable energy developer plans to increase by seven-fold its investments as it prepares to build more wind farms in New Mexico and West Texas over the next several years. A recent analysis commissioned by Pattern Development shows a $1.2 billion economic impact from its wind farms in eastern New Mexico and West Texas. That’s hundreds of millions of dollars more than what was initially projected in 2015 before development began and bodes well for what New Mexico can expect in benefits from future construction, company officials said. “I think New Mexico really has a chance to be a leader here in what’s going to come nationally, which is a growing renewable energy penetration as part of our energy mix,” Cary Kottler, vice president of North American development for Pattern Development, said during a recent interview. The aim is investing in renewable energy to both serve the demands of the sparsely-populated state and export the electricity to bigger markets in the West, he said.