Xcel Energy’s Courtney Wind Farm is online, according to the company.
The 200MW farm is located near the town of Courtney, which is north of Jamestown, N.D. It includes 100 turbines that cover 25,000 acres that are owned by 60 landowners. It is capable of powering an average of about 100,000 homes.
The farm is expected to generate about $850,000 in local tax revenue and, during the next 20 years, will pay landowners $26.5 million. Ten full time jobs were created and, at its height, the construction project employed 200 people. Xcel also owns the Border Wind Farm in Rolette County, N.D., which opened at the end of last year.
Wind power is reducing energy rates in another midwestern state. The Newton Daily News says that Facebook’s Altoona, Iowa datacenter is completely wind powered. The piece adds that almost one-third of the state’s power comes from wind which, the story says, is “a claim no other state can match.”
