First Totally Wind Powered Village
16/07/2008Rock Port, Missouri has become the first town in the US to be totally wind powered. Four powerful wind turbines provide all the 1,300 inhabitants of Rock Port with all the electricity they need. As the residents average electricity consumption is 13 million kilowatt hours per year and the turbines produce 16 million kilowatt hours per year there will be no shortage.
Any electricity that's not used by Rock Port will be transmitted for use in other areas and bought by the Missouri Joint Municipal Utilities.
There are a total of 27 wind turbines in Atchison County and land owners are able to get from $3,000 to $5,000 leasing their land for the turbines.
Commenting on the $1.1 million taxation that the total amount of wind turbine sites will bring in, Missouri University Extension community development specialist, Jerry Baker said that "This is a unique situation because in rural areas it is quite uncommon to have this increase in taxation revenues."
Baker added that "We're farming the wind, which is something that we have up here," and "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."
"It's a savings for the community in general, savings for the rural electric companies, and it does provide electricity service over at least a 20-year time period, which is the anticipated life of these turbines," said Baker in his closing comments.
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