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Wind turbine in pasture is just a start Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Agri News staff writer
RUSHFORD, Minn. -- A well-traveled path leads from Kyle Colbenson's farm yard to the 80-foot-tall tower in his pasture.
Three 1,000-pound blades chase each other in the sky, generating electricity for the Colbenson family. Any excess is purchased by Alliant Energy at the same rate the utility charges Colbenson for electricity.
The 35-kilowatt turbine went up the second week of September in a day and a half. Colbenson had mulled over putting up a turbine for four years. An incentive payment of 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour available through the Conservation Security Program gave him the final nudge he needed to proceed.
A grazier, he wanted to apply for the CSP because it fits his farming philosophy. It not only rewards conservation measures already in place on his farm, but also offers incentives to keep them in place and add additional enhancements.
Installing wind or solar energy is an enhancement allowed under the alternative energy component of the CSP.
Colbenson, who lives in the Root River Watershed, applied and was accepted into the Conservation Security Program in the 2005 round. He had about 30 acres accepted at Tier 1 for five years. |
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