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Green breeze sweeps Lower Ark Valley

The Pueblo Chieftan
November 5, 2009
By ANTHONY A. MESTAS

www.chieftain.com

State provides electricity-generating turbines to four ag producers.

Southeastern Colorado farmer Lorraine Schleining used to hate the strong, relentless winds that blew in the Lower Arkansas Valley.

Dust scattered around her farm and the howling breeze made a simple trip to the mailbox a nuisance.

These days Schleining, 72, has a different take on the wind.

She is harnessing her old nemesis with the use of a modern wind turbine to convert the energy from wind currents into electricity to help power her domestic water well, household and machine shed on her 300-acre grain farm.

"I look at the wind in a different aspect now. It used to be annoying and now it's creating an option for me," Schleining said. Schleining is one of four ag producers in Bent County using wind to power their farmsteads.

To assist them with this new initiative, the Bent County Conservation District applied for a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service conservation grant in 2007. The funds are part of the conservation service's Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

The $75,000 grant was awarded last year and has helped farmers to erect wind turbines on their property. The district provided 50 percent of the cost to install the turbines for the four producers.

Caroline Morlan, a soil conservationist with NRCS, said the conservation district for several years has promoted the conservation and wise use of traditional natural resources such as soil, water, air, plants and animals.

Morlan said knowing that the cost of energy and electricity probably would continue to increase, the district decided to expand into and promote the use of small farmstead wind turbines for energy conservation.

"We wanted to do something different and be kind of on the forefront of working on a greener energy alternative," she said.

Morlan said the goal of the project is to increase awareness of alternative energy for farm use, to promote the utilization of wind to supplement commercial electricity and to expand the use of wind to power farmsteads.

The valley is home to two of the state's largest wind farms. The Colorado

Green Wind Power project, spanning 11,840 acres between Lamar and Springfield,

is the fifth largest wind farm in the nation and the largest in the state, while

the Twin Buttes Wind Power Project runs adjacent to Colorado Green.

"Wind farms are no strangers to the people out here. We kind of know a lot about them," Morlan said. "I believe that there is definitely a trend in wind power out here and across the country."

Morlan said that originally nine producers had feasibility studies done on their land for the program. The studies included wind speed data from the Lamar airport and two years worth of electricity bills.

Of the nine, four producers decided to go ahead and install turbines.

Morlan said the four had to meet five criteria:
• The turbine had to be installed on a working farm or ranch.
• The producer had to agree to host field tours on their demonstration sites.
• The producer had to be willing to participate in informational meetings.
• The producer had to serve as a spokesperson for the project.
• The producer had to be located within the Bent County Conservation District.

Schleining, whose turbine has been up and running since June, said she believes that in years to come, the turbine will save money.

"I completely believe that electricity will get higher as time goes on and we always will have wind. By generating electricity from the turbine, I know that I am not polluting the air," Schleining said.

Schleining, who has owned her McClave farm since 1956, said she already has seen a 40 percent savings in her monthly electricity bill.

"It will probably get better when we produce more energy here," she said.

Other farmers and ranchers in the program include Lance Verhoeff, Laura Cline and Guy Wagner, all ag producers in Bent County.

Morlan said that each farmer has said they are experiencing savings in their electricity bills.

"They expect a higher savings as energy increases," Morlan said. "The life of these turbines is about 30 years, so this will be a savings for a long time."

Schleining and Wagner have Skystream 1.8 kilowatt turbines stretching 70 feet in the air. Verhoeff and Cline have the larger 5 kilowatt, 105-foot Endurance turbines.

Both types of turbines kick in and begin generating electricity when the wind speed hits 8 miles an hour. Some differences in the two types are that the smaller ones will produce electricity up to 30 mph, while the larger ones will produce electricity up to 54 mph.

The turbines shut down once wind speeds exceed these numbers.

"I fully recommend other farmers to do this. Especially if they want to start cutting costs," Schleining said. "In time it will all pay for itself."