DAKOTA WIND BUILDING

Wind Project Moves Along
May 27, 2009 (KXMC-TV Minot)

"North Dakota wind continues to blow-and an industry relying on that wind continues to grow…The Public Service Commission estimates wind will be able to generate more than 16-hundred megawatts of power in the state by next year…That's more than 300 times the amount of wind power generated just seven years ago.

"…[For Basin Electric’s Prairie Winds ND1,] the latest wind project proposed in Ward County…the numbers are encouraging - 200 jobs created during construction, 8 permanent jobs, new rental revenue for farmers, and a new, clean power source…"

T. Boone Pickens calls the Great Plains “the Saudi Arabia of wind…” (click to enlarge)

"…Basin Electric says the wind farm will include 77 towers with a generating capacity of about 115 megawatts…[It says] federal energy policy is critical to developing projects like Prairie Winds. Those laws allow companies like Basin to quickly depreciate the cost of the equipment - and give them tax breaks for wind-produced energy…

"…[The power company] says wind power will be an increasing part of Basin's energy production mix - because it allows the company to meet requirements set by Congress…[E]xpect to hear more about projects to harness North Dakota's wind in the future…The 240-million dollar Prairie Winds project is scheduled to begin producing electricity this winter..."