Drive-Through Tour: Eco-Friendly Windpower in Calfornia's San Gorgonio Pass

This Windfarm Blows Strong

The Santa Ana's may be fanning fires, destroying power lines, and littering the streets and hillsides of Los Angeles, but out in the San Gorgonio Pass, this season's strongest gusts are welcome winds. Nestled in the Coachella Valley just southwest of Palm Springs, the San Jacinto Mountains form a natural wind tunnel that powers 4,000 windmills collectively producing enough electricity on the average to power a city the size of San Francisco.

"A/C power generated by wind turbines is the most sensible form of alternative energy," said Jack Norie, tour operator for Windtec, just one of 80 wind farms in the pass. "Not only that, they're a great investment," he said. Windtec is just one of ten privately owned entities in the San Gorgonio Pass that sells wind-generated power to Southern California Edison at the rate of 6 cents per KwH.

"Make no mistake about it, wind farms are a business. Once the original investment is paid off, it's pure profit," explained Norie. The cost of a modern windmill is approximately $1.5 million per turbine but the investment cost breaks even between 4-6 years of operation. The average life of a windmill is about 25 years.

Once installed, the only additional cost is semi-annual maintenance to grease and wash the blades and any unanticipated repairs. He estimated Windtec's annual profit margin to be roughly between $350,00-400,000.

The size of the property dictates how many windmills can be placed on the farm for maximum power and profit generating efficiency. Each windmill is spaced 4 wind blade diameters apart (~700 feet) to maximize the wind power so that each windmill does not steal wind from the next one, similar to the way a sailboat can steal wind power from a boat in front of it.

The rest of Noble's 100-acre lot is scattered with design failures and expired machines. A handful of inoperable windmills scatter the landscape because the cost of removing them exceeds the salvage price, Norie said