Campus Currents

The West’s New Windy City

Drive to Walla Walla and you’re likely to see a new addition to the hills
bordering the valley: wind turbines. More than 400 turbines will eventually line the ridges of southwest Walla Walla County. But these aren’t the garden-variety windmill. On top of a 165-foot tower, giant blades reach an additional 80 feet into the sky. The towers stand roughly twice as tall as downtown Walla Walla’s Whitman Tower building.

Labeled the Stateline Wind Project, these towering energy generators are an environmentally friendly source of renewable power. Although the idea of large-scale wind generators has been studied for many years, only recently have these projects been approved. Global concern about air pollution and energy shortages across the western United States generated new interest in clean, alternative power sources. Wind generators are more reliable and cost-competitive than in the past, but most important, power can be sent into the electrical grid within six months of breaking ground.

Wind power isn’t completely reliable, but new software, redesigned airfoils, and variable-pitch blades mean wind turbines operate at much slower wind speeds than before. Improved weather data allows better predictions of wind patterns, and generating wind power today only costs 10 percent of what it cost 20 years ago.

The Stateline Wind Project is an economic boost to rural Washington and Oregon, providing up to 350 jobs for construction workers. The turbines are located primarily on private farmland providing income to farmers while leaving most of the land available for crops.

Last summer, reporters from usa Today, msnbc, cnn, National Public Radio, and many other television and news agencies descended on the site in a week-long media blitz.

When the Stateline Wind Project is fully operational, the wind turbines will generate enough electricity to serve the annual energy needs of some 70,000 homes, making it the single largest wind farm in the world. W

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