Missouri Town Powered Fully by Wind
“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.
The four turbines which are powering little Rock Port are part of a greater batch of 75 turbines, which installed across three counties, are used to harvest the plentiful wind scouring the landscape. “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.”
Another benefit for the community is the tax that the wind energy developer that built the turbines must pay. Wind Capital Group, based out of St. Louis, has to pay more than $1.1 million a year in country real estate taxes. “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.
An additional bonus is that landowners can lease part of their property to wind turbines, reaping further profits from the renewable energy source. Add on top of that the savings to rural electric companies, and at least 20 years worth of electric service (the turbines lifespan), and all up, Rock Port Missouri has hit gold – so to speak.
Photo Credit – Wind Capital Group
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July 24th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Replace 2 or 3 bearings, get another 20 years. Cost? Not much.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
[...] Extracted from Clean Technica. [...]
July 24th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Overall satisfaction? Priceless!
JT
http://www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com
July 25th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Wow! Fantastic. If we are going to see this type of model spread, we as individuals must support businesses (like wind energy companies) that not only provide a suitable utility but also benefit the environment. For example, I came across a website http://www.simplestop.net that stops your postal junk mail and benefits the environment.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:51 am
Here in Australia, a little community is about to take the same route. It is so great to see communities taking the lead. Governments are way too SLOW.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:48 am
What happened to tax credits? Why is the local government taxing this? This power source is already more expensive than competing sources without the burden of supporting local bureaucrats.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I think it is great. Even if it costs more than planned, it still beats paying 700 billion dollars a year for imported oil.
Anything we can do to reduce that cost will help make us more secure.
larryhagedon
AmericanFlexFuelExperience-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/AmericanFlexFuelExperience/
July 28th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
What happens when the wind doesn’t blow? I bet they have a coal fired power plant as a back up. This would be REAL news if they actually isolated themselves from the grid. Anyone want to bet they haven’t pull the power grid plug?
August 10th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
[...] came across these critters on Inhabitat and couldn’t resist. You can power homes, towns, and ships, and maybe planes with wind, but what about an [...]