First U.S. Town Powered Completely By Wind

[bhdean]

Rock Port, Mo. has an unusual crop: wind turbines.

The four turbines that supply electricity to the small town of 1,300 residents make it the first community in the United States to operate solely on wind power.

"That's something to be very proud of, especially in a rural area like this - that we're doing our part for the environment," said Jim Crawford, a natural resource engineer at the University of Missouri Extension in Columbia.

A map published by the U.S. Department of Energy indicates that northwest Missouri has the state's highest concentrations of wind resources and contains a number of locations that are potentially suitable for utility-scale wind development. The four turbines that power Rock Port are part of a larger set of 75 turbines across three counties that are used to harvest the power of wind.

"We're farming the wind, which is something that we have up here," Crawford said. "The payback on a per-acre basis is generally quite good when compared to a lot of other crops, and it's as simple as getting a cup of coffee and watching the blades spin."

And the turbines have another benefit besides produces clean energy: MU Extension specialists said that the Missouri wind farms will bring in more than $1.1 million annually in county real estate taxes, to be paid by Wind Capital Group, a wind energy developer based in St. Louis.

"This is a unique situation because in rural areas it is quite uncommon to have this increase in taxation revenues," said Jerry Baker, and MU Extension community development specialist.

Landowners can also benefit by leasing part of their property for wind turbines.

The turbines will also provide savings to rural electric companies and will provide electric service for at least 20 years, the anticipated lifetime of the turbines.

"Anybody who is currently using Rock Port utilities can expect no increase in rates for the next 15 to 20 years," Crawford said.

Baker added that the turbines could also attract tourists to the area.

[Snowden]

Marvelous! What ingenuity.

[Woodmonkey]

Good for them. Those wind turbines won't work everywhere. but, where they do, people will benefit.

[john mclaughlin]

Missouri has some crazy weather,ive looked the four directions of a compass and seen snow ,sunshine and warm,a tornado/thunderstorm,with wind and rain the other direction!While standing there waiting for the drills to decide what to do.We ended up in a quensot hut in shorts and t-shirt doing drills until the windows steamed up and there was a puddle of sweat under everyones feet,it was 5DEGREES!!!

[john mclaughlin]

OH !YES! WIND POWER,whole town?yes!this is what the world needs!The tidal system can handle the coastal areas.The solar can do the rest,ok energy crisis solved , now lets rewrite the koran.

[bhdean]

If we use alternative power sources, there will be no need to buy foreign oil and the middle eastern country can dry up and go back to the stone age where they want to be. If we don't buy their oil, they don't buy their Mercedes.

[jjvman]

Wind power? Are they that close top Washington DC, or is it just a good downdraft? Good for them, though. (Should I be facetious ands say "More power to them"?)