Originally Posted By: 3800Series
They tried wind turbines in Iowa for awhile. I couldn't tell you how many of them I seen going up there for our family reunion. I can tell you with certainty how many of them I seen spinning while I was there tho 0.
Tried? Iowa has been pretty successful with wind turbines. The states largest power company produces about 47% of our local electricity needs from wind, and with the most recent investments of over 3.5 billion dollars we'll be at about 85% by the end of the decade. That, along with existing capacity, will give Iowa enough capacity to become a net exporter of electricity via the Rock Island Clean Line. Older coal fired plants are being decommissioned in favor of wind power. Another power company also just announced a 1 billion dollar investment in wind energy.
A primary reason why Facebook located its largest data center in Iowa was for access to wind power. They signed an agreement with the Wellsburg wind farm and contracted for 140 megawatts of power-exclusively from wind turbines. They just recently started construction on their third (approx) 500,000 square foot data center in Iowa. Microsoft just announced that it will build its largest data center in the US right here-in part because of reliable and renewable electricity and the ability to contract for wind power.
And in Iowa we also enjoy some of the lowest electrical rates in the country. So yes, we "tried" wind power. But as you failed to notice, we became extremely successful at it.
