KPAN Radio, Hereford Texas Radio Station

The first four wind turbines to be erected at EDF-Texas Hereford Wind LLC southeast of Hereford, located at FM 1259 and County Road C.

Longtime Hereford resident and dentist Dr. Stan Fry Jr. is Hereford's 49th Father of the Year. He and his wife Becky have 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren, and he is pictured with daughters Rebecca Sanchez of Lubbock (left) and Emily Nielsen of Hereford (right). He is a 1975 HHS graduate, and a graduate of East Texas State and Baylor College of Dentistry. Stan's hobbies include trap shooting, riding motorcycles, reading and working on Apple computers.

Wind turbine pedestal and blade components arriving at Texas Hereford Wind LLC June 6. The 200-megawatt wind park is located southeast of Hereford and the $340 million project is expected to be operational by the end of 2014. EDF Renewables will operate the facility and Blattner Energy is the construction contractor for the project.

(photo courtesy of Bryan Hedrick)

Longtime resident Sharon Caro is Hereford’s 53rd Mother of the Year. She was selected for the honor by KPAN from among 7 nominees, based on 6 letters on her behalf. She is pictured with Brad Land and Josie Nava of the KPAN Krew. Sharon is a retired seamstress and has 3 daughters, and has lived in Hereford since 1976.

Hereford Wind Projects

A wind turbine pedestal foundation southeast of Hereford. Three wind projects are on the table for Deaf Smith County, with a total capacity of 469 megawatts.

Construction is underway in southeast Deaf Smith County on Texas Hereford Wind LLC, a 200-megawatt wind park owned by EDF, which also operates the Spinning Spur I and II in Oldham County, and is also constructing Spinning Spur III. At a 48% capacity factor, the Hereford EDF project will produce 759,000 megawatt hours yearly. Blattner Energy is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor with about 115 people working on the ground. The project will cover 15,000 acres of farm and ranchland, and will consist of 50 2.0MW Vestas turbines and 54 1.85MW GE turbines. Total investment in the project is estimated at $340 million.

Unity Wind LLC plans a 240MW project north of Dawn, with construction projected for 2015; that project also has 100MW of solar energy proposed for phase 2. Fremantle Energy is underway with a project near Wildorado called Canadian Breaks LLC, with 29MW installed in Deaf Smith County; the company also plans to construct another substation in northeastern Deaf Smith County.

Lincoln Renewable Energy plans a 300-megawatt project called Jumbo Road in northern Castro County. The first phase of the Mariah project is underway in Parmer County, being developed by Scatec of Norway and Scandia Wind Southwest of Bovina; the first 2 phases of the project would total 800 megawatts. Both Mariah and Jumbo Road would interconnect through the Sharyland substation southeast of Hereford.

Power produced by the projects would be collected by Sharyland Utilities and transmitted by CREZ lines. The CREZ project interconnects Sharyland wind energy collection substations near Silverton, Nazareth, Hereford and White Deer to the ERCOT grid downstate. Other companies developing wind projects to interconnect through the Deaf Smith Sharyland substation include Tri-Global, EURUS, Chermac-Happy, and E.ON.

Classes are in session at the $7 million Amarillo College Hinkson campus on West Fifteenth Street. Besides core college curriculum classrooms, the campus will include technical labs for training in trucking, industrial maintenance and renewable energy-wind.

Margaret Formby Memorial Collection -- A project of Deaf Smith Friends of the Library, readers are able to view over 300 very early editions of the Hereford Brand newspaper. Click here to learn about and view the collection online.

To see photos of the KPAN wind build, click here.

To read the July 2008 Radio article, click here.

To read the February 2009 Radio magazine article, click here.

As of January 1, 2012, the KPAN Skystream has prevented the release of 10,243 pounds of CO2, compared to energy from coal.

Welcome to an on-line visit to the Texas Panhandle, where the people are genuine, the ground meets the sky in an unbroken line and they call the wind Mariah.....Carey. Or on some days there are other names for the wind. Where cows outnumber people 10 to 1. Where malcontents and ne'er-do-wells are still allowed daily access to loaded sidearms and live microphones. Where you can still be home on the range. Where the land is flat and the deck is stacked and the ladies.....are angels. Where money talks and men are real men and the livestock are.....real nervous.

Cruise around this old-timey website to learn more about Hereford and the complex inner workings of a powerhouse broadcasting giant like KPAN. Learn about the The Old Philosopher, Clint Formby. Visit the websites of KPAN Sponsors. Check out the Hereford Whitefaces at Sports. Catch up on the latest stuff on the KPAN TableGram, shop the Trading Post, or check precip at Weather.

When the little radio station went on the air in 1948, the army barracks you see at the left was home to a simple studio and a handful of folks who were excited about bringing the latest technology to Hereford. Now, with the fourth generation of the Formby family clicking keyboards to put KPAN on the Internet, we are still excited about the latest technology to bring radio's one-to-one communication to you, our on-line listener. KPAN still has much of the original vision of 1948, a full-service radio station for a community, daily providing music, sports, advertising, journalism, weather, ag info, opinion, markets and fun for Hereford -- and now for you, wherever you choose to log on.

Click on the logos below for links to these websites.

Friend us on Facebook - Kpan Am-fm - for daily RadioGram updates.

Bootleg Weather Site Hereford Mesonet Weather Site

Hereford Airport Weather Site West Texas Mesonet

Contact: Check Current Info page, or individual staff e-mail addresses in the KPAN Krew section, or mail to kpan@kpanradio.com.