First Up! Knudson Turbine

Installed June 2011

Del Knudson is a realtor that believes wind energy is complementary to rural living. Del’s home on 10 acres near Thorp, Washington looks across the Yakima River and the Kittitas Valley Wind Farm under development. Del wants a turbine a little closer.

Del hopes this turbine will be inspiration to get other community wind projects in the area started. Del is selling his place and moving back to the family ranch a few miles away and thinks a wind turbine will make his property more attractive in the real estate market.

The First Up! turbine was installed and began producing power in June 2011 and is projected to produce enough power for about 45 energy efficient homes (around 200,000 kWh a year).

A 1% subscription to this project costs $3,800. CCWC estimates that each 1% subscription will yield approximately $4700 in power bill credits and 40,000 kWh of renewable energy credits over the 20 year term of the subscription. REC-only subscriptions are available for $950, providing you with RECs from locally produced wind energy and helping to pay off the project’s construction costs.

The local economy will benefit from this project beyond just the power savings to subscribers. Those benefits are the land lease payment to Del Knudson, local taxes, local maintenance work, profits to local turbine owners, payments to local lenders, and more. There are also multiplier effects of this money circulating in the community.

For Subscriptions or more information, call (360) 306 5331 or email: info@CascadeCommunityWind.com.

CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE

PROJECT DETAILS

Project: First Up! Knudson Home Turbine #1
Land Owner: Del Knudson
Location: Kittitas County, Near Thorp Washington
Turbine: Vestas V20, 120kW turbine
Turbine Size: 60ft Rotor/80ft Tower
Project Cost: $380,000
Estimated Project Output: 200,000 kWh/year

Subscription Information

Subscription Cost: $3800
20-year Estimated Power Savings: $4700
20-year Estimated Carbon Offset: 40,000 lbs
REC-only Subscription Cost: $950
REC Purchases: $40 per MWh

Yearly Community Economic Benefit

Increased Economic Activity: $84,000
Increase Tax Revenue: $7,500
*Economic benefit statistics based on Washington State Wind Energy Guidebook

Erin, Alden, and Matilda Meyer visit 'their' wind turbine.