HOLBROOK -- When Billy Elkins appeared before the Arizona State Corporation Commission, they weren't very impressed with his idea to bring a wind farm to his ranch northwest of Snowflake.
     "They said we had no winds and kicked us out the door," Elkins said at a presentation at the April 14 board of supervisors meeting. "But we've shown there is wind."
     The corporation commission wasn't the only organization that tried to discourage him. When he went to Northern Arizona University to get their help or input, he was told there was no wind. Fortunately for him, he found a man in Flagstaff who had the expertise to help him start the project.
     Elkins first started thinking about having a wind farm on Rocking Chair Ranch, the Elkins family ranch, after visiting an uncle in eastern New Mexico. That uncle had a wind farm and, Elkins said the topography was similar to his ranch on state Route 377 at Dry Lake.
     The first thing that needed to be done for the project was to erect a tower to test the wind speed, wind direction, average temperatures and other information. After three years collecting data, the computer chips on which the information was stored were sent to be certified. Elkins sold that information to a Portland, Ore., wind energy company which was soon bought out by Iberdrola Renewables, one of the largest international alternative energy producers.
     After the data was collected, Elkins said, it was time to put together a land lease proposal. He chose to work with the attorney who helped his uncle in New Mexico. That lawyer, he said, is well versed in the wind power industry. The final lease is for 38 years.
     One final step was needed before the Dry Lake Wind Farm could become a reality.
     "We have power lines across our ranch but we had to show there was ability on those lines to carry the power," he said. "The availability was there. We have sold all our electricity to SRP (Salt River Project) but it will be carried on APS lines."
     The contract with SRP is for 20 years but has a renewal clause.
     The wind towers are gigantic. The blades themselves are 143 inches long and three are attached to 280-foot towers so they soar high against the sky.
     It takes 12 trucks to bring all the pieces for one tower, Elkins said. A giant crane is needed to construct the windmills. It took 30 trucks to bring that in. There was also a smaller crane needed to help put the giant train together.
     Some of the parts of the towers were made in New Mexico and other parts in India. Those were shipped to Freeport, Texas, and brought by flatbed trucks from there over the interstate. Some coming through Holbrook and others through Show Low and Snowflake/Taylor. Once erected, the windmills don't seem so large but true size could be seen as the parts were carried through the communities. The 140-foot long blades looked like large tubes flattened at one end.
     The foundation on which the towers sit are 50 foot by 50 foot cement blocks with a large amount of rebar, Elkins said, adding that the AV (gravel) was purchased from Brimhall Sand and Rock in Snowflake. It takes a day and a half to construct one of the windmills, Elkins said. The pieces of the windmills themselves are put together on the ground and then lifted by cranes to the tops of the towers.
     It might seem that stronger winds would allow the windmills to make even more power, that isn't the case. Elkins said the blades will shut off when wind speed reached 60-65 mph.
     "They look a lot smaller when they're up in the air than they do on the ground," Elkins commented. "As far as the noise, there is no noise, just a swish if you stand a few hundred feet from the tower."
     The company erecting the towers has hired 33 to 40 local workers for the construction phase. The company will keep a representative on site for the next five years. Once the construction is complete, about 10 to 12 positions will need to be filled to maintain the wind farm.
     The first phase is comprised of 30 windmills in three strands. Power generated from the 10 towers on the strands is carried along underground cables to a substation before being it enters the electric grid.
     Now with the first phase is under construction, Elkins said it's time to start planning for the second phase and, later, a third phase. Each phase would have the same number of windmills as the first phase.
     County Manager Jimmy Jayne ask if the contractor had any problem with planning and zoning.
     "They told me they never had a project that was that easy working with the county," Elkins said.
     Since news of the test results on Rocking Chair Ranch and the power purchase by SRP as well as construction beginning, Elkins said, "Every landowner for 100 miles around will be contacted by a company to see if they are interested in testing their land. "In New Mexico, it has become a law that wind power isn't sold when a ranch is sold."
     Although there is reason for celebrating with the windmills being constructed, the picture wasn't always so rosy.
     "Our ranch had quite a bit of money in the project," Elkins said. "We got it back but it wouldn't have happened if we hadn't invested in the project from the beginning. A lot of times I felt we should give up but we didn't."
     After the presentation in the supervisors boardroom at the county complex, most of the supervisors as well as several other county employees took a guided tour of the wind farm. Elkins told them beforehand that they wouldn't be stopping or getting out at the farm because they needed hard hats in the construction area.
     The Dry Lake Wind Farm project is the first large-scale wind farm in the state. At the previous board meeting in March, supervisors approved four special use projects to allow for test wind towers to be constructed in the county, two in Sun Valley, one in the Joseph City area and one in the Holbrook area. These requests seem to prove Elkins' prediction that landowners in the area will be contacted the possibility of a wind farm on other sites.