Wind Power Puts Positive Charge into Earnings for Farms

Wind Power Puts Positive Charge into Earnings for Farms, Ranches

Jun 14 - Northern Colorado Business Report

In the musical "Paint your Wagon" they called the wind "Mariah . " In Colorado we call the wind "Power."

The potential for wind energy appears limitless especially along the Wyoming border. This unending power source is precisely what Xcel Energy hoped for when company officials released their plans to expand the company's wind power program.

According to the company's leastcost resource plan filed at the end of May with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Xcel hopes to add 500 megawatts of power generated by renewable resources, primarily wind, by 2013.

The company currently has three facilities producing 240 megawatts of wind power - the eighth-highest amount in the nation. The Ponnequin Wind Facility located near the Wyoming border has 44 turbines, the Peetz Table Wind Plant in northeastern Colorado has 33 wind turbines and the Colorado Green Wind Farm has 108 wind turbines which produce 162 megawatts of power. One megawatt-hour is enough power to supply up to 1,000 homes, depending on the power demand.

If the utility gains approval for the plan, Colorado would rank third in the nation behind California and Texas for the amount of available wind power found in the state.

"The site of the turbines still remains to be determined, but there are many places that would be good sites," said Mark Stutz, Xcel spokesman.

But wind does have one downfall as a power-generating source - it doesn't always blow.

"Obviously the best-case scenario is that the turbines operate 30 percent of the time," Stutz said. "Wind doesn't always blow, so the dispatching of wind power isn't always on."

The expansion of the wind power program is good news for local farmers and ranchers who may enjoy the monetary fruit that wind turbines bring. Keith Roman, owner of Roman Ranch, has 21 turbines on his 700-acre ranch along the Colorado/Wyoming border, located just east 'of Interstate 25. While he declined to comment on precisely how much money he earns by "growing wind," he did say it helps subsidize 'his cattle operation.

"(Wind power) is a good thing for the environment and it is also an economic subsidy for agriculture," he said. "The subsidy is one of the reasons we decided to put the turbines up."

According to Coloradans for Renewable Energy, landowners "typically earn between two and five thousand dollars per turbine per year." The group's Web site estimates "that landowners will share $350,000 in annual income at the new 167-megawatt wind farm near Lamar in Prowers County.

"Growing wind" is a profitable venture for agriculturists because they can continue grazing or planting as normal Cattle don't appear to be affected because the turbine is 80 feet in the air; crop volume isn't negatively affected because the land needed for a turbine is approximately 40 square feet.

The noise of the propellers doesn't appear to spook the cows because it is a continuous noise.

"On a really windy day when the propellers get going the wind is really howling at ground level so you really don't hear the noise," Xcel's Stutz said.

One of the determining factors for the placement of the 80-foot turbines is the proximity to transmission lines that transfer power to metropolitan areas. The cost to run these lines is approximately $500,000 per mile. This can be a cost deterrent to put turbines in the absolute best locations.

Landowners with locations close to a major highway or an urban area have the best chances to be approved for a wind turbine. In essence, a fanner or rancher who is interested in having a public wind turbine on his property will have to wait for the golden phone call or install a private wind turbine for personal use.

Victor Creazzi owns Aerofire Windpower, a private wind power consulting and installation firm in Lafayette. He installs small- scale turbines, which produce up to 10 kilowatts of power, or enough to power a house or small farm operation.

"These systems are pretty popular in locations away from the utility grid or where a location has reliability problems," Creazzi said.

Users of the private systems often have batteries installed to preserve the power, or they sell the power back to the utility company for a reduction on their own bill.

The systems range in price from $7,000 for installation of a small windmill - used in conjunction with an established solar system - to $40,000 for a large windmill with new power system.