Technology...

Europe has long led the local wind power movement, starting in the middle ages, when Dutch farmers put up wind mills to grind grain and pump water. They’ve also managed to avoid the corporatization of wind power. In Germany, much of the nation’s wind capacity was built by local landowner associations.

US wind farms, on the other hand, usually require rural landowners to lease their land to external wind developers for an annual royalty. These massive fields of hundreds of turbines connect to far-away electric grids with long transmission lines.

But now, farmers in the Upper Midwest are banding together to turn the air over their blustery pastures into gold. National Wind is a community-based wind development company in Minnesota that shepherds local wind co-ops through the often arduous process of harnessing wind power, assisting them with financing, siting issues, zoning approvals and installation. The developments range in size, but often the turbines are installed as single units or in small clusters so that the energy doesn’t have to travel far.

Community-based wind makes sense for communities that are feeling the impact of industrial takeover of agricultural lands. Small farmers who might be priced out by agribusiness can now reap the advantage of their wind rights in addition to their crop yield.

Additionally, these locally-owned projects allow energy revenue to circulate through local businesses and bolster rural economies. Community-owned wind power has grown from almost nothing 8 years ago to a 3.6 percent share of the wind power market today and continues to accelerate.

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