Colorado Unveils Wind Energy Guide

The video and handout, from the Colorado Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation (OEMC), showcased at the Colorado Agricultural Outlook Forum, which was held last week in Denver.

"Our hope is that this Guide will take a landowner from the point of observing wind available on their property to actually producing wind-powered electricity for their home or business," said Drew Bolin, director of OEMC.

The video is a virtual tour of a Colorado hog farm's 65 kW wind turbine installed to offset some of its electrical-use costs while "blending" the wind energy with electricity produced from biogas. The Guide covers the steps necessary to put up a wind turbine in three phases. The first phase covers the project's feasibility through assessing the site, energy usage, financing, and other considerations. The second covers the installation of the turbine. The final phase discusses ongoing maintenance and measuring actual turbine performance.

"We hope that this Guide will help ranchers, farmers, and landowners to take a look at this renewable energy as a new option economic benefit," said Drew Bolin, director of OEMC.

Small wind power is often an economical, practical and renewable solution for meeting our growing energy needs. By generating and consuming power onsite, site owners are able to reduce overall and peak energy consumption and costs. Successful projects require diligence, capital and resource investment on the part of the project owners.

OEMC received funds from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Powering America Program to help produce this video and its handout, which are accessible, at no cost, from the OEMC website.