Abstract: . . .  and 24th in Minneapolis. Visit: www.communitywindenergy.org Our Wind Co-op USDA Funds Community Wind Projects In 2002, for the first time ever, the federal farm bill included a renewable energy title. It established the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s renewable energy program, which provided $7.4 million in grants for 35 wind projects in 2003, nearly all of which could be considered community wind. The first operational wind project funded by the USDA program is a 35 kW turbine in Pope County, Minnesota owned by a local farmer and his former farmhand. Our Wind Co-op is a unique cooperative encouraging farmers, ranchers, and rural facilities to invest in small-scale wind turbines across the Pacific Northwest. Five small turbines are currently installed in Montana . . .
. . .  installed the first commercial-scale municipal wind turbine on the east coast in December 2001. Their 660 kW turbine has allowed the municipal light plant to discontinue billing for powering the town’s streetlights and traffic signals, saving the Hull’s 11,000 citizens more than $50,000 per year. Hull is now considering installing a second, much larger turbine along side Hull Wind 1 on Windmill Point.  . . .
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