Colorado Wind Farm

An East Central Colorado wind farm project is bringing economic opportunity to the rural community it serves. Xcel Energy-Colorado is building and will own and operate the 600-megawatt wind facility. When complete in the fall of 2018, the project will be the largest wind generating facility in the state and will produce enough electricity to power about 325,000 homes.

 

Third-generation wheat farmer Tim Brown from near Limon, Colorado, lives and ranches in one of the counties the wind farm is being constructed in. Brown, a Colorado Farm Bureau board member, says the project is providing an economic boost for his community.

 

 

The project will include two wind farms, 300 wind turbines, and approximately 83 miles of transmission line to connect and carry wind power output to homes and businesses across the state. Brown says the project provides an extra source of income for farmers and ranchers whose land includes a wind turbine, and construction and maintenance of the wind farms provides a change in economics for local businesses.

 

 Brown, who lives on the edge of one of the wind farms, offers advice to others across the United States that may be in an area where a wind farm is being proposed or developedFor more information about responsible wind energy development, visit windexchange.energy.gov. Reporting for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.