Wind Farms

The San Gorgonio Wind Farm is located on the eastern slopes of the homonymous pass, one of the windiest places in California.  When it was completed, the farm consisted of 3,218 turbines that produced enough energy to light up a city the size of San Francisco.

Utility-scale wind farms are generally located in areas with average annual wind speeds of at least 13 miles per hour. Most of the wind power is generated during the hot summer months because the speed of the wind is at its highest.

While the power produced by many of the older wind turbines is not cost-competitive with other forms of electricity generation, some of the newest wind turbine designs may be able to match or beat the power prices from many coal and nuclear plants.

Advantages of wind power include:  replaces the need to build more polluting power plants, it produces clean renewable energy, there is enough potential wind energy in the U.S. to power the entire country.

Potential issues associated with wind farm development include:  use of large tracts of land, erosion in desert areas, noise, avian mortality due to collisions with wind turbines and associated wires.