USA - California is more efficient when it comes to wind resources

Idaho has more wind resources than California, but California has developed many more projects, a workshop was told. California is 17th in the nation for wind resources, and has more than $2 billion invested in wind projects. Idaho is ranked 13th for wind-power potential and has no commercial wind installations, speakers said. Gary Seifert of the INEEL said he is appalled that Idaho is a blank spot when it comes to commercial wind developments. “I´d like to see us growing wind in our fields instead of buying power from Arizona,” Seifert said.

One sizable wind project is now moving forward. Boise-based Windland Inc. has proposed putting 130 power-generating wind turbines on Cotterel Mountain, between Albion and Interstate 84. The turbines, each 20 stories tall, would be on 4,600 acres leased from the Bureau of Land Management. A Burley man, LeRoy Jarolimek, wants to construct a wind turbine on his property. About two years ago Jarolimek received a $10,000 USDA grant to cover 25 percent of the cost of a 20-kilowatt wind turbine for a net metering project. He recently received another USDA grant for $20,000 to cover 50 percent of a feasibility study for his project.