On February 5, I was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles from Baltimore.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature put the kibosh on that flight — and nearly every other flight trying to escape Charm City that afternoon. Thanks to the first of two major snowstorms that buried the city in more than two feet of snow, I wasn't even going to be able to leave my neighborhood for a couple of days.
Needless to say, my mind retreated to visions of palm trees and sunshine as I shoveled out a backyard rest stop for our 12-year-old Icelandic sheepdog.
Now this particular trip wasn't intended to be all rest and relaxation. I had actually scheduled a number of meetings, one of which was with an engineer friend of mine who just completed construction on his new home. This place is about as green as they come — complete with a water reclamation system, solar on the roof, and a 2.4 kW wind turbine in the backyard.
Given the fact that he lives in a region that has a pretty strong and consistent wind resource, he told me that the turbine was actually performing better than expected. But I wanted to see for myself, mostly because my knowledge of residential wind is limited.
You see, nearly all of my experiences covering wind have been with multi-megawatt wind turbines and all those massive wind farms that, according to the DOE, could end up providing 20 percent of our total power generation in the U.S. by 2030.
And while my interest in residential wind has certainly peaked over the past couple of years (and I do believe we'll be able to clue you in on a few residential wind opportunities in the very near future), we still believe that the majority of this year's wind opportunities remain in utility-scale wind development... particularly in California.
A $600 Million Wind Energy Opportunity
California now requires that 20 percent of all power generated by in-state utilities come from renewable sources.
But currently, not a single utility in the Golden State can meet the requirements of this mandate.
Which is why nearly every single utility is now chasing down any possible renewable energy generation it can get its hands on — and they're paying top dollar for it, too.
Why else do you think states like Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon are sending a big chunk of their renewable power to California, instead of keeping it for themselves?
Of course, renewable energy generation within the state tends to get preferential treatment from utilities and regulators — especially in wind, where there's already infrastructure in place (with more being developed at this very moment). This makes wind farm developers particularly lucrative for investors.
And that's why in 2010, we're extremely bullish on a small, under-the-radar wind developer that just happens to be situated smack-dab in Southern California. Especially now that the company's latest project has landed a 20-year power purchase agreement worth more than a half billion dollars!
This outfit is setting up shop in the Tehachapi region of California, home to the second largest collection of wind generators in the world. This wind developer is the most underrated wind play I've ever seen. In fact, while financing for new wind energy projects is still extremely difficult to land — this wind developer has actually been turning offers down!
It wasn't long ago when they actually declined a $228 million offer for the development rights for their latest project.
According to management, given the market for renewable energy today — developing their own projects simply provides a greater return. And they were right. Because the contract for that new wind farm is now worth more than $600 million!
Of course, most average investors still haven't got a clue. Which is unfortunate for them.
Because last year, those in the know were quickly and methodically snapping up shares — pushing this energy stock from $0.61 to $1.69 a share. That's a 177% gain!
But there's plenty more to come...
You see, if there's one thing I've learned about investing in these kinds of wind projects, it's that little goes unnoticed once the bulldozers and cranes start moving in.
Well, my friend, those bulldozers and cranes are creeping around the bend. And when they arrive, the bells and whistles are going to go off — and this energy stock is going to soar. That's why I told our premium members to load up on this thing early. And it's why I'm telling you about it now.
I've even written a special report, detailing the specifics about this particular wind energy stock. It's called Wind-Powered Profits, and it's yours — absolutely free..
Like I said, once construction starts on these types of projects, all the trend-chasers come running.
Construction on this project is just around the corner. So if you want to join the thousands of other premium Green Chip investors who already saw this wind energy stock deliver a 177% gain in 2009.
