Wind Today - Q2 2008 - (Page 34)

land across from this ranch that my uncles had leased since the 1930s, but the land was never available for sale. Four or five years ago the owners decided to sell the land. I got the idea of peddling a few wind mills to pay for it. Some people in Lubbuck, TX have the largest windmill collection in the world. They called and asked me to sell two or three wind The Colorado Green Wind Farm’s modern wind turbines operate along-side mills to help start a museum. We had talked Bob Emick’s antique windmills. about it, and when they called, I offered them 40 windmills. I had some rare and one-of-a-kind windmills him, “we have that.” He was flabbergasted. They liked the and a price in mind. idea of working with just one family. The people from Lubbuck were here within two days. Later on, GE Energy bought the assets from Enron and Those 40 wind mills paid for 2,000 acres of grass land. then sold the development rights to PPM Energy and Shell Now I have about 20 antique wind mills. Energy. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO, set up a 397 ft. tall anemometer tower 1-1/4 Colorado Green Wind Farm Colorado Green Wind Farm mile away. They set up a little house with air conditionIn 2000, a representative from Enron Wind called me out of ing and heat, and monitored wind speed, temperature, the blue about a piece of our land. Then he asked who owned and humidity day and night. The meteorologist selected another section of land, and I said, “we have that.” Over and this spot and determined there could be no wind turbines over, he asked about a piece of property, and I kept telling 1/2 mile from the homestead. They also decided to put five wind turbines on neighboring property on each side of my ranch. That was okay because our family didn’t need it all. Now we’re paid a quarterly lease payment based on a percentage of gross sales to Xcel Energy. We are very happy with it. Close to a quarter of a million people, 52,000 homes in the front range, get power from our strong wind that would otherwise go to waste. Hospitality Western Hospitality The workers were pushed for time getting the wind farm up and started by the end of 2003. With all the construction going on around the ranch, relations between our ranch hands and the construction workers could have gotten strained. To keep good relations with the construction workers, we held a big barbecue for all 250 of them. We showed a little western hospitality and it paid off big. We didn’t have much trouble. We all just let the ranchers ranch and the wind people run the wind farm. We get along fine. As far as controversies go, the wind turbines do not disturb the livestock in any way. In the summer, the towers cast long shadows so the cows and calves line up in the shade. Over at the wind farm office off Highway 287, 20 wild turkeys stay on the flat prairie. We have deer, antelope, and prairie dogs, and I haven’t seen anything disappear. Nice things have happened for us here. Response No. 341 34 WIND TODA Y Second Quarter 2008 http://www.apterratech.com http://www.apterratech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Wind Today - Q2 2008

Wind Today - Q2 2008 Contents WINDPOWER 2008 - Host City - Houston WINDPOWER 2008 Special Events CanWEA 2008: Fast Forward to Wind Global Wind Plant Ownership Top 15 States with Wind Energy Installed Ranking the Percentage of State Electricity from Wind Largest Wind Farms in the United States Owners with the Most Wind Power Assets in the United States Rick Perry Bluegrass Ridge, Cow Branch, and Conception Wind Farms Loess Hills Wind Farm Bob Emick enXco V and enXco V Repower Climb Assist Devices GWEC Market Forecast Ports of Entry Satisfy Customers WINDPOWER 2008 Schedule Calendar Seven Principal Financing Structures Used in Utility-Scale Wind Projects Raising Project Funds Through Private Placements The Minnesota Flip Business Model Wind Resource Glossary WT Transmission Corn Plus Coop Adds Wind Energy Wind Resource Maps Ryan Orban, Iberdrola Renewables Liz Cussans, TransAlta Wind Bolton & Menk Trachte Port of Corpus Christi NPPD Interstate Truck Rental & Sales Dr. Shrink Aldridge Electric HYTORC Product Surveys Ad Index

Wind Today - Q2 2008

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