Posted at: 12/10/2009 6:48 PM | KSAX.com
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Community-Owned Wind Farm Nearly Complete

HOFFMAN, MN --- Despite lashing winter winds and a harried production schedule, a major wind farm in Grant County is almost complete.

Owned by Grant County Wind LLC, the 10 wind turbines, each generating up to 2 Megawatts of power, are the result of Minnesota's Community Based Energy Development (CBED) program.  

 Located 6 miles outside of Hoffman, MN, each 265 foot tower rises above the rolling Grant County Hills. Owned by a collective of roughly 10 different families, they are expected to be up and running by Spring 2010.

When running at peak-output, Runestone Electric Association officials say the turbines should be able to power roughly 400 homes. And while most of the energy will be physically consumed by Grant County homes, it will also be sold to Ottertail Power Company and marketed to the Minneapolis/St. Paul grid.

"We're excited about it, and we've talked about it for six years since the beginning," said wind turbine investor/land owner Jim Prahl.

Prahl went on to explain that he's owned land used for part of the wind-farm since 1957.

His son, Ron Prahl, grew up on the farm and can remember when a different kind of machinery graced the fields.

"It was a grain farm, and we did some outside jobs," he says modestly. "We never thought of it being a wind farm until we were approached, and saw the Buffalo Ridge Farm in Southern Minnesota," he added.

Notably, however, most major wind farms, including Minnesota's Buffalo Ridge, are owned by foreign multi-national companies, according to Ron Hultzman of Runestone Electric Coop.

"This would be one of the only Minnesota wind farms to be owned by the local people," Hultzman said.

Grant County Winds LLC Manager Ed Persons says his organization hopes to eventually purchase the entire company from financier and corporate partner Juhl Wind of Woodstock, MN.

Currently, Grant County Winds LLC is scheduled to retain ownership of 51 percent of the company, and should retain the majority of project control throughout its 30-year-timeframe.

"I think they want to be known as folks who are interested in environmental protection and interested in taking a free resource and using it wisely," Persons said, regarding the group's outlook on the project.  

Four of the turbines should go through an initial testing phase next week. All will be running by spring 2010.

Written for the web by Matt Standal

mstandal@ksax.com