Marcial Nava

After barreling into the state of Texas, as one of the largest and most damaging Hurricanes in U.S history, Hurricane Harvey continues to devastate the Corpus Christi-Houston-Galveston area with catastrophic destruction, human losses, and unprecedented flooding.

As the region begins to pick up the pieces in the weeks, months and years to come, there is a growing concern about the impact that Hurricane Harvey will have on the regional and national economy.

Wind has garnered a reputation for being not only an environmentally-friendly, but also a wallet-friendly alternative to produce electricity at a utility-scale level. This is in sharp contrast to the U.S. debut of large wind farms in 1980, which were primarily in response to environmental concerns and emissions reductions standards. Moreover, estimates on the cost of producing electricity with wind energy have been trending downward, making wind energy competitive with conventional energy sources, even after taking into account both government incentives and the historically low prices of natural gas and  coal.

Do you remember when oil prices fell below $30 per barrel? Back in February, markets couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel as prices hit their lowest level since December 2013. But in a gravity defying twist, prices rebounded to $52 per barrel in early June and have stabilized at an average of $50 per barrel since then.