Articlebot
Jun 4th '08, 04:30 PM
<p><img height="183" alt="" src="http://www.ecogeek.org/images/image/POSTCommunityWind.jpg" width="468" /></p> <p><a href="http://www.nationalwind.us/">National Wind</a> is providing much needed support to communities that want wind power. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company develops and manages utility scale (50 MW or more) community wind energy projects. It creates local limited liability companies, shareing ownership with the community members and allowing greater ability to generate and maintain wind farms. This is a huge boon for wind development on smaller scales. Rather than <a href="http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1656/86/">massive wind farms</a> that generate huge amounts of power, this company helps communities create their own farms, generate their own power, and not have to rely on big business to do it.</p> <p>National Wind’s mission is to work with landowners like farmers and ranchers to build wind farms, and work as co-owners with community members. They provide the tools, knowledge, and experience needed to get wind power up and running, including addressing big issues like evaluating and designing the layout, and working with utility companies and government agencies. They’re currently active in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa, Colorado, Montana and Nebraska.</p> <p>The organization bolsters the outlook of wind power because it puts power generation at the community level, rather than at a corporate level. Working directly with communities is a great way to get people excited about alternative power sources.</p> <p>They currently have 15 wind energy developments under their belt, and we’ll keep a watch on this company to see how the projects pan out.</p> <p><a href="http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1708/">Community-Based Wind Farms Put Power in People’s Hands | EcoGeek</a></p> <br />