Wind Energy for Main Street

Over the last three decades, the cost of wind energy has dropped dramatically: from over $0.30 / kWh in the mid 1970’s to under $ 0.05 / kWh at today’s best wind sites. Why then don’t we see a wind turbine in the vacant back lot of every school and small business across the windy Midwest? The answer is that, in a few years, you just might. 

Improving project economics and low wind speed technology advancements are converging on a market where energy awareness and general acceptance of wind turbines is rapidly increasing. In just a few year’s time, wind energy’s image has evolved from the expensive technology for nerdy environmentalists, to the cost effective poster child of renewable energy; one able to compete against conventional energy generation. (The IEA predicts wind energy will be the lowest cost form of new electricity generation by 2015.) 

Unrecognizable until recently, the silhouette of a three bladed turbine on a slender tower is now an iconic symbol of our clean energy future and the green job economy. Studies show that renewable energy creates three times more jobs per installed megawatt than conventional generation.

Unlike massive conventional power plants, wind farms are distributed in nature, each composed of many individual turbines. Though all forms of generation benefit from the economies of scale, a small wind energy installation can overcome the scale hurdle by offsetting a facility’s electricity cost at retail rate (instead of wholesaling energy like a wind farm).