TODAY IN ENERGY HISTORY

July 8, 2025

THE PICKENS PLAN!

The Pickens Plan was unveiled by billionaire T. Boone Pickens on July 8, 2008, aiming to break America's dependence on foreign oil. It proposed building a vast network of wind turbine farms across the Great Plains, what Pickens called the "wind corridor", to supply about 20–22% of U.S. electricity. Pickens estimated this shift could reduce annual foreign oil spending by roughly $300 billion, or about 43%. The full build-out called for roughly 100,000 wind turbines and about 40,000 miles of new transmission, supported by an estimated $1 trillion in private funding. Critics questioned the feasibility, warning the timeline was aggressive and that wind's intermittency would require significantly more infrastructure. Though the plan started a lot of conversation it was never completed, and in 2013 Pickens backed off and focused more on increasing domestic energy production.

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