May 2004 · Volume 86 · Number 4

Does a Manager Know Which Way the Wind Blows?

by Colin Haller
Don Quixote might not have cared, but his famous nemesis might have been one of man’s first power generators. The windmill has come a long way since it first pumped water in Holland and on the ranches of America’s Old West. Today’s wind turbines harness the wind to produce electricity and can do so at competitive rates without the negative environmental effects of traditional, fossil-fueled power plants. The coupling of its near-competitive price with its environmental benefits may be the reason that wind power is the fastest-growing power source in the world, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
Local governments should understand wind energy and its potential, for three reasons: 1) they may be interested in making use of wind energy for their own communities; 2) they may be approached by a utility offering to sell wind power to their communities and/or their citizens; and 3) a developer may seek to build a wind energy facility in or near the local government’s jurisdiction. With a basic understanding of wind energy, local government officials can make informed decisions, knowledgeably answer citizen inquiries, and know where to get additional information. 
Why Wind?
The first time a manager faces the wind-power issue may be when a citizen or citizens’ group petitions the local government to consider wind energy for the community. The citizen(s) may refer to the many benefits listed in this article and may cite a subjective “It’s the right thing to do” rationale. The manager must consider the many benefits of wind energy against the costs but should also use available wind maps and other resources in making any recommendation on the subject. If a community decides that wind power is feasible, the community should understand the various benefits wind power can offer.
Usually, the question of whether wind energy is even worth considering hinges on where a community is located, which determines the quality (speed and sustainability) of the wind. Wind experts classify the wind potential of given areas using a 1-to-7 scale, with ratings above 7 representing areas with the strongest, most sustained winds. Areas designated Class 3 or greater are suitable for most wind-turbine applications, whereas Class 2 areas are marginal.
Class 1 areas are generally not suitable, although a few locations (like exposed hilltops) have adequate wind resource.[1] The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has performed exhaustive research on wind conditions around the United States and has compiled a wind atlas of the nation.[2] A community considering wind energy should first study wind maps and may want to conduct a more thorough study.
To help communities study wind potential, the U.S. Department of Energy is conducting a three-year effort to update state wind maps using the latest technology and practices.
How It Works, Its Costs and Income
When the wind hits the rotor blades of a wind turbine, the blades are lifted, which causes a series of gears to spin a generator. As the generator spins, it produces electrical energy. Electricity from the generator is sent through a transformer and carried by transmission lines to where it is needed.
Far from being a fringe, unrealistic power source, wind energy has become a viable alternative to fossil fuel–generated electricity. The cost to develop a wind-energy facility has dropped, and the cost of generation has begun to approach the cost of coal and natural gas–generated electricity.
For a community considering purchasing a system on its own, the cost will top the list of considerations. The cost of electricity from utility-scale wind systems has dropped by more than 80 percent over the past 20 years. Today, state-of-the-art wind-power plants at excellent sites are generating electricity at less than 5 cents/kWh, and the price drops if the developer self-finances the project (a cost of 3.5 cents has been reported). This compares to 4.8–5.5/kWh for coal; 3.9 015–4.4/kWh for natural gas; 5.1–11.3/kWh for hydropower; and 11.1–14.5/kWh for nuclear-generated electricity (all figures are levelized).[3],[4]
Of course, the cost of a system can be high. One study has found that a small-scale system (installed) can run between $3,000 and $5,000 per kW (a typical house needs about 10 kW, and a small government facility may need about 30 kW), while a large, utility-scale system averaged $1,000 per kW.5 These installation prices, however, do not tell the full story because, in contrast to fossil-fuel power plants, electricity generated by wind power does not require the purchase of fuel and hence is not subjected to fuel-price volatility such as that associated with fossil fuels like natural gas.
Information on “payback” varies widely, but “the AWEA estimates that small wind owners will usually recoup their investment within six to 15 years.”[6] Except for small continuing expenses (insurance, maintenance) after the payback has been achieved, the rest of the power generated is free.
The preceding figures only apply if a local government wants to develop a wind-power system itself. More often, a developer will approach a local government about installing a large-scale wind-power system. The local government can generate income from sale or lease of publicly owned land and collect taxes on development on public or private land. Alameda, California, for instance, collected $725,000 in property taxes during 1998 from wind-turbine installations valued at $66 million.[7]
In Lake Benton, Minnesota, each 100 MW of wind development generates about $1 million annually in property tax revenue, coming to an approximate total is $2 million.[8] The private land used for such development in the Great Plains is often farmland. Farmers who lease land will not only earn rental income but also should be able to continue farming on most of the leased land. 
Economic Development
The development of a wind-energy facility, particularly a wind farm, can require large and complicated construction. Like other large construction endeavors, wind-energy construction can bring high-paying and high-skilled jobs to a site. Wind-energy development can help revitalize economically depressed rural communities in America’s Great Plains and other similarly disadvantaged communities.

The Mountaineer Wind Energy Center operates some 44 wind turbines, like the ones shown here, in Preston County and Tucker County, West Virginia.	
One example of wind energy driving rural economic development is the 240 MW of wind capacity installed in Iowa in 1998 and 1999. These installations produced 200 six-month-long construction jobs and 40 permanent maintenance and operations jobs; $2 million per year in tax payments to counties and school districts; and $640,000 per year in direct lease payments to landowners.[9]
Indeed, forecasts are even rosier. One study predicts that if Iowa were to obtain 8 percent of its electricity from wind turbines and biomass, it would produce about 740 short-term construction jobs and 450 long-term operations jobs in rural areas, as well as more than $7.4 million per year in tax revenues for counties and school districts and $10.62 million in new income for farmers every year.[10]
On-site constructions jobs are not the only employment resulting from wind energy development. Labor is needed to build the turbines, towers, and other equipment needed to erect a wind turbine or wind farm. Because equipment size can substantially increase shipping costs, developers are looking to bring the assembly closer to the development sites. North Dakota gained one of its largest employers when LM Glasfiber, a Danish wind-turbine blade manufacturer, opened a new factory in Grand Forks that will employ 130 workers.[11]
Greening Local Governments, and Health Merits
To avoid potential penalties under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Act, some communities are looking at wind. For the communities in a region declared “nonattainment” for particular pollutants (having pollution levels in excess of a given standard), a plan must be prepared and implemented for how the region will reduce the subject pollutants.
There are many expensive and onerous options available (mass purchase of alternative-fuel vehicles, imposition of driving restrictions, and so forth). Wind-generated electricity purchase is one attractive option. By designating that a certain percentage of electricity purchased will come from wind power, the community reduces its demand on the replaced sources of power by an equal amount.
If that source is an upwind, fossil fuel–based power source, the result is fewer polluting emissions that contribute to the community’s poor air quality. Improving the community’s air quality will help the region meet its obligation under the Clean Air Act and prevent any potential penalties.
Even when a community is not faced with Clean Air Act sanctions, the health and environmental benefits are undeniable. In contrast to conventional fossil-fueled power plants, no air pollution results from power generation or fuel transport, no solid waste remains from burned fuel, and no water pollution is caused by mine tailings of the mined coal, oil, or other power-plant fuel.
As with the Clean Air Act example, using wind energy spares nearby, downwind, and downstream communities the pollution caused by these power plants. And wind power produces no carbon dioxide—a greenhouse gas thought to contribute to global climate change.
The United States has tremendous wind-power potential. According to the American Wind Energy Association, “North Dakota alone is theoretically capable of producing enough wind-generated power to meet more than one-third of U.S. electricity demand.”[12] Many places in the United States have good wind-energy potential. The Great Plains states, however, may have the best concentration of wind-energy potential in the country.
Indeed, the Great Plains has been called the “Saudi Arabia of wind energy.” In these states, serious consideration should be given to developing wind-energy systems. Other locations may be attractive as well, but more careful study of wind maps and other diagnostic tools should be employed.
Local Land Use Barriers to Development, and Misperceptions
Despite all the benefits of wind energy, many barriers and misperceptions block the widespread adoption of this technology. Usually unintentionally, local governments can hinder the placement of wind-energy facilities through their zoning ordinances. For instance, the height restrictions contained in a number of zoning ordinances thwart the erection of tall wind turbines.
With height being a major necessity in the effective operation of most wind turbines, limited height restrictions can halt much wind-energy development. Modifying the zoning requirements to specifically exempt, or to create special height restrictions for, wind-energy systems would facilitate wind-power development.
One misperception about wind energy is that the noise emanating from wind turbines is too loud and would surpass the levels codified in local codes. However, “under most conditions, modern turbines are quiet, generating primarily broadband sound levels no higher than that of a moderately quiet room at distances of 750 to 1,000 feet.”[13] For comparison, this sound level would be between that heard in a recording studio (extremely quiet) and a private business office (highest range of “quiet”).[14]
Usually, the question of whether wind energy is even worth considering hinges on where a community is located, which determines the quality (speed and sustainability) of the wind.
It should also be noted that because of the inherent conditions on sites chosen for the development of wind-energy facilities, noise generated by the wind will often mask the sound of wind turbines.[15] Strategies to ensure compliance with local sound-level ordinances might include inspection of a developer’s other wind turbines, and incorporation of noise-level monitoring and penalties into any permitting process. 
Avian Fatalities
Birds occasionally strike wind turbines just as they do any other tall structures like buildings or towers. A number of studies conclude, however, that incidents of avian mortality associated with wind turbines are much lower than those associated with other human-related sources. A comprehensive study by the National Wind Coordinating Committee reported that the average number of avian collision fatalities per turbine is 2.19 per year.[16]
The study’s reported number of avian fatalities caused by wind-energy systems was reported as between 10,000 and 40,000 per year. This compares with 60 million to 80 million deaths caused by automobiles. The fatality numbers are clearly slanted by the disproportionate number of cars on the road, compared with the number of wind-energy facilities; “(h)owever, even if windplants were quite numerous (1 million turbines), they would likely cause no more than a few percent of all collision deaths related to human structures.”[17]
Proper planning and siting will help mitigate potential harm to birds. Expanding here on the various wind-energy avian mortality studies would require significant space, but for readers interested in more detailed information on the relationship between wind energy and birds, this author recommends Avian Collisions with Wind Turbines: A Summary of Existing Studies and Comparisons to Other Sources of Avian Collision Mortality in the United States, prepared by the National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC) in 2001. NWCC’s publication Studying Wind Energy/Bird Interactions: A Guidance Document, published in 1999, explains how a wind developer can best mitigate potential avian harm through recommended studies and assessments. 
A Viable Alternative
Far from being a fringe, unrealistic power source, wind energy has become a viable alternative to fossil fuel–generated electricity. The cost to develop a wind-energy facility has dropped, and the cost of generation has begun to approach the cost of coal- and natural gas–generated electricity.
Although the cost of the infrastructure may still be out of reach for many local governments, they should not be afraid of wind-energy development within or near their jurisdictions. Using the summary of relevant issues given in this article, a local government manager should be able either to make an informed decision about wind energy or to know where to find additional information. In the end, the crucial difference between wind power and fossil-fuel power is that the wind is free.
Montgomery County Wind Energy
A great opportunity awaits interested electric suppliers. A Washington, D.C., neighbor, Montgomery County, Maryland, is looking for a new power company. The winning bidder, however, will need to agree to the new terms approved by the Montgomery County Council and the county executive. Through their joint resolution, adopted in April 2003, the county has been directed to incorporate provision to include “zero-emission,” renewable-energy electricity that meets the “Green-e” definition into any new electricity supply contract. 
Green-e is a voluntary environmental certification program that sets standards for electricity supply administered by the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions. Green-e certifies renewable electricity products that meet the environmental and consumer protection standards established by the program.
“I am proud that Montgomery County will be the first jurisdiction in the Washington metropolitan region to commit to purchasing 5 percent of its energy requirements from wind energy,” said Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan. “Montgomery County is stepping up to the challenge of adopting strategies to reduce pollutant emissions, improving the quality of our air and water, and moving closer to the goal of becoming a more sustainable community.” Montgomery County expects much of this power to come from nearby existing and planned wind-energy facilities in western Maryland and West Virginia.
Montgomery County prepared terms of reference for a new electricity supply contract earlier this year. At the time of this writing, Montgomery County is set to release a list of electricity suppliers that have prequalified to present formal bids under a request for proposal (RFP). Montgomery County has not yet determined when this RFP will be released.
In spite of the marginal premium the county will pay on wind energy over conventional power purchases (less than 2 cents per kilowatt hour, as stated by Jefrey Komarow, chair, Montgomery County Energy and Air Quality Advisory Committee, in a letter to the county executive in 2002), the county expects to reap great environmental benefits. Chief among the environmental benefits the county is eyeing is compliance with the federal Clean Air Act.
Along with the rest of the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, Montgomery County is classified as “severe nonattainment” for ozone. Metropolitan regions possessing levels of ozone exceeding levels specified in the federal Clean Air Act are classified as nonattainment areas and are required to develop and implement ozone reduction strategies in the form of a state implementation plan (SIP). A discussion of the Clean Air Act and SIPs would require an explanation beyond the scope of this article. For more information on this topic, visit the EPA Web site at www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/federal/caa.html.
Failure to implement an ozone reduction plan could subject the county to severe sanctions. “We could lose all our federal transportation funds in 2004,” said Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal in a press release issued in 2003. Many available ozone reduction strategies are expensive, like purchasing fleets of zero-emission fleet vehicles, or onerous, like mandating driving restrictions.
Relating distant wind turbines to local ozone may not be an intuitive connection, but the logic is sound. Buying wind energy will reduce demand on upwind coal-burning power plants—mostly in the Allegheny plateau—that contribute to the air pollution of Montgomery County. Lower demand means fewer emissions. Further, reduced present demand lessens the need for new power plants and their accompanying pollutants.
Montgomery County, however, is not the only Maryland jurisdiction that needs to implement ozone-reducing plans. “With the metropolitan Washington region designated as a severe nonattainment area under the Clean Air Act, Montgomery County is aggressively working to help the region reduce harmful pollutant emissions, and encourages other Metropolitan Council of Governments members to do the same,” said Montgomery County Chief Administrative Officer Bruce Romer.
With the entire region facing the same consequences for its nonattainment status, Romer’s call for neighboring jurisdictions to join the county’s planned wind-energy purchase, if heeded, would further diminish the region’s ozone levels and move it closer to attainment. Montgomery County also hopes that, if enough jurisdictions join the wind-energy purchasing consortium, the communities will be able to take advantage of reduced bulk rates.
Citizen interest helped prompt Montgomery County’s historic decision, but the county’s new contract will have no direct effect upon individuals and businesses are able to secure their own suppliers. Many residents, however, are currently taking advantage of “green pricing” programs run by power companies serving their area.
With green pricing, customers designate that a percentage of their electricity be generated by environmentally friendly sources; in Montgomery County, this usually means wind. The portion thus designated carries a slight premium, but this has not dissuaded thousands of customers in the county from taking advantage of this option.
Wind energy offers many benefits and in some regions is rapidly becoming competitive in price with fossil fuel–powered electricity. Even though it is not quite evenly priced with conventionally produced electricity, the green pricing available in Montgomery County and other jurisdictions proves that customer demand warrants consideration of wind energy.	
[1] Wind Energy Potential in the United States (abstract) by D.L. Elliott and M.N. Schwartz (1993), p. 1.
[2] The Wind Energy Atlas of the United States, published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (1986).
[3] Cost information from the American Wind Energy Association, which in turn obtained its information from the California Energy Commission’s 1996 Energy Technology Status Report.
[4] Levelized costing calculates in current dollars all capital, fuel, and operating and maintenance costs associated with the plant over its lifetime and divides that total cost by the estimated output in kWh over the lifetime of the plant. 
[5] Illinois Institute of Technology Wind Turbine Project.
[6] Economics of a Small Wind System, published by the Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, on its Web site (2003).
[7] Wind Energy and Economic Development: Building Sustainable Jobs and Communities, published by the American Wind Energy Association (2002), p. 2.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] More Jobs Would Be Created by Renewables Than by New Gas Plants, Says Wind Association, published by the American Wind Energy Association (2000) p. 1.
[11] American Wind Energy Association, Wind Energy and Economic Development, p. 2.
[12] American Wind Energy Association, The Most Frequently Asked Questions About Wind Energy (2002), p. 8.
[13] National Wind Coordinating Committee, Permitting of Wind Energy Facilities: A Handbook (2002), p. 23.
[14] Ibid., p. 22.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Avian Collisions with Wind Turbines: A Summary of Existing Studies and Comparisons to Other Sources of Avian Collision Mortality in the United States, published by the National Wind Coordinating Committee (2001) p. 16. 
[17] Ibid., p. 1.

Colin Haller is project manager, International City/County Management Association, Washington, D.C. (challer@icma.org).