Russell Gold
Superpower
the people of 519 East 11th Street.
Finch’s turbine, PURPA, O’Sullivan’s rules, and the Supreme Court decision helped create a new industry of independent power producers.
In 1983, Iowa introduced the nation’s first renewable portfolio standard law,
Goldman gave the company a new name to reflect this forward-looking stance: Horizon Wind Energy. Under Goldman, the company transformed from a developer of wind—a company that would scout out locations, build wind farms, and then sell them off—to an independent power company. It could build wind farms and hold on to them for years, operating the turbines and selling the electricity.
world. The decision to make Aroostook even bigger was one of the last that Skelly made working for the company he helped create. In March 2007, Goldman Sachs sold the company to Energias de Portugal SA for $2.15 billion plus debt of about $180 million. This was a healthy profit, about $900 million, factoring in capital Goldman had put into Aroostock since buying it from the Zilkhas.
EDP planned to build wind farms and own them for decades or longer. Under Skelly, Zilkha Renewable/Horizon had been a hard-charging company. It needed to move aggressively to grab opportunities. It was built to grow. EDP felt they would need to reorient it as a company with a slower metabolism focused on the long term.
Thanks to CREZ, Texas leapt ahead of California as the top state for renewable energy.