The Primary School building may be going by the wayside, but bricks from the building will be made available to the public for those who wish to keep the memories of their early school days alive.
Boosted by strong production from Xcel Energy's new Sagamore Wind Project in New Mexico, wind energy accounted for more than half the region's electricity supply in March and reached a new hourly peak production of more than 86% of the supply on April 11.
"Wind energy is a major component in the generating resources that produce clean, low-cost energy for a growing economy," said David Hudson, president, Xcel Energy - New Mexico, Texas. "The integration of such a large amount of wind energy was not possible two decades ago, but investments in our transmission grid have enabled us take on more of these valuable energy resources for the benefit of our customers across our Texas-New Mexico region."
Xcel Energy has been adding wind energy into the regional generating mix for more than 20 years, primarily by purchasing the output of area facilities owned by other wind energy producers. In the last two years, Xcel Energy added 1,000 megawatts of new wind generation from facilities the company built and owns - the Hale Wind Project near Plainview, Texas, in 2019 and the Sagamore facility near Portales, New Mexico, which came online in December 2020. Together these two facilities generate enough electricity to power 378,000 typical homes.
Xcel Energy's regional energy mix was 51.1% wind energy in March, the highest monthly wind numbers yet recorded. While March is typically one of the best months for wind energy production, wind is coming on strong throughout the year, and for all of 2020 (before Sagamore came online), wind energy accounted for 32% of the electricity delivered to Xcel Energy's Texas-New Mexico customers. Accounting for Sagamore production, Xcel Energy expects that 40% of the region's electricity supply will be derived from wind energy in 2021.
"We invested close to $2 billion in Hale and Sagamore, which had large positive impacts on the rural economies in their respective areas," Hudson said. "These facilities will continue to enrich the rural economy by boosting tax revenues to counties and school districts and paying production royalties to farmers and ranchers. In turn, our customers benefit from 100% of the federal production tax credits associated with this production and by lower fuel costs since the fuel for wind turbines is free of charge."
The fuel savings and tax credits combined are more than outstripping the annual cost to pay for the investments in Hale and Sagamore and keep them operating, and are now providing a net savings to customers, Hudson said.
Additionally, wind energy requires no water in the production of electricity, helping to preserve the area's precious groundwater for municipal and agricultural use. This renewable energy resource is also a critical component in Xcel Energy's plans to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2030, an effort Xcel Energy aspires to continue until its electricity is 100% carbon-free by 2050.
More information on Xcel Energy's renewable resources, electric vehicle initiative and investments in the capacity and reliability of the regional power grid can be found at www.xcelenergy.com/OurEnergyFutureSW.
The Friona Public Library and Texas AgriLife Extension have partnered for the Books & Bites program to teach children entering grades 2nd-5th about food and nutrition through reading. The program will occur every Thursday in July from 9:30 am to 10:15 am at the Friona Library. For questions or more information, contact Wendy at 806-251-5120.
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Independence Day is just around the corner! If you were thinking about buying fireworks don't forget to stop by the firework stand starting this weekend. Remember to use extreme caution with fireworks this year, as we are still in a drought.
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Despite the burn ban, Friona will be having a firework show on July 4th. The firework show will take place at Reeve Lake after dusk (approximately 9:45). Personal fireworks will be allowed until midnight inside of the Reeve Lake area ONLY. Fireworks will NOT be permitted anywhere else in City Limits.
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On Thursday, June 17, President Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, commemorating the day that Texas residents learned that slavery and the Civil War had ended. Texas Senator Cornyn has been the lead author of a resolution honoring Juneteenth each year since 2011. He also authored a bill with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas-18) for a federal study of a National Emancipation Trail from Galveston to Houston, following the path of slaves freed on June 19, 1865 to spread the news, which was signed into law.
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Volunteers are needed for the 15th Annual Cheeseburger Festival. Volunteers will be needed from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm and will help by setting up, handing out event information, picking up trash, assisting the cooking teams, cleaning up, etc. A bonus for volunteers is free wristbands, which is good for a whole burger or 4 quarter pieces, chips, and a frisbee. For more information, contact the Friona Chamber of Commerce at 806-250-3491 or frionachamber@wtrt.net.
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Volunteers are needed for the 6th Annual Friona Kidz Building Camp. The camp will be from July 20-24 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm with a sleepover on Friday, July 23rd and breakfast following the next morning. Contact the Friona Chamber of Commerce for more information 806-250-3491 or FEDC@WTRT.NET
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PMC will host a Covid Vaccination Clinic on Friday, July 2nd. See page 6 for more details.
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Bricks from the Primary School will be available for the public to keep as mementos. Project Superintendent Lorenzo Soto said that bricks will be available for pick-up at the northwest corner of the property. As a safety precaution for everyone, please do not walk into the zone of demolition. Pick up the bricks at the designated area.
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June's full moon is best known as the strawberry moon, as it's the first full moon after the summer solstice. While the strawberry moon will reach peak illumination at around 1:40 p.m. CT today (Thursday), it won't be visible until it rises above the horizon at sunset. So look towards the eastern skies for a sweet sight tonight.
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National Days
June 24:
Handshake Day
June 25:
Take Your Dog to Work Day
June 26:
Summersgiving
June 27:
PTSD Awareness Day
June 28: Insurance Awareness Day
June 29:
Camera Day
June 30:
Meteor Watch Day
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Darrin Gilley, assistant manager at Friona Wheat Growers, said the wheat harvest will be very limited again this year. As usual, weather was one of the culprits including the big February freeze-out and the ongoing drought the area has endured the past year. Most of the wheat was either grazed out or cut for wheatlage because of the high demand for feed from feedyards and dairies. Also, wheatlage provides an opportunity to harvest early and go back with a second crop of summer silage.
Test weights for the wheat this year have been excellent with results in the 63-64 lb. range. Protein levels have also been above average in the 13.5-14 range. So far, reported yields have been running around 20 bushels per acre. The total amount of wheat received by the elevator this year will probably be around 30,000 to 40,000 bushels. The elevator has also received barley from area producers.
The cash price for wheat has been hovering around $6.35 per bushel and Friona Wheat Growers manager Greg O'Brian said the price should remain strong since "protein wheat" is in limited supply this year due to drought conditions in other parts of the country. He also said high demand from food producers should help keep upward pressure on the price and explained that improved genetics is the main reason the quality of the wheat is so high even in drought conditions.
