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John Daley ReportingAlternative energy in Utah is getting a boost today as a new project is starting to take shape. The site is near the Point of the Mountain.
Camp Williams is a pretty windy spot. Out there every day is a bad hair day, but every day is a good day for generating wind power and that's why they're putting in a new wind turbine.
Alternative energy and the National Guard are not two terms that we generally associate with each other. But at Camp Williams studies show with its near-constant 11 to 14 mile per hour wind, it is a promising spot to change that.
Tim Parkinson, Utah Nat'l Guard, State Energy Manager: "It showed this was a viable class two site that was economically feasible to take advantage of renewable energy. The wind is constant here. We've done the wind studies to prove that. And this is just a great project for the National Guard."
The price of wind power is becoming more and more competitive with other sources, costing three to five cents a kilo watt hour, which is comparable to power from new coal and natural gas generation plants. Utah, like other states, is looking to increase its use of this clean, renewable energy.
Tim Parkinson: "It does look promising, yes it does. San Juan counties, Weber counties, Box Elder counties, we do have the wind and we need to harness it."
Steve Olsen, OlsenBeal Construction: "It's just like the little plastic pinwheels we used to hold out the windows of the cars. The wind catches the blade and it's pitched just right and it turns the generator inside and it creates electricity."
The blades on this wind turbine are 75 feet long, the tower is 150 feet tall. It's a big project, requiring big tools, and is expected to generate plenty of power for Camp Williams.
The new wind turbine is expected to reduce Camp Williams’ commercial power consumption by 38 percent, an annual savings of about $100,000 per year.
One wind turbine there, built in 1997, has not been in use due to maintenance problems. The new plan is to use both, making this the first for any National Guard unit in the U.S. The new turbine is expected to be up and running in the next week or two.
