Living off the grid, Part IV: Catching the Wind

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The radio was wind power's second ally in the first half of this century. Farmers and ranchers were as dependent upon radios for critical weather information in the 1930s as they are today. Without grid electricity, people listened to battery-powered radios that weren't particularly dependable and needed frequent recharging. Each charge meant a long trek to town and a few days with no radio. However, a small 6-V wind generator provided enough electricity to keep the battery continuously charged, with power to spare. By the 1930s, wind-charged radios were hot items across the Great Plains.

In time, the 6-V radio chargers were replaced by 32-V generating turbines, and thousands of homes gained access to power they had never before imagined possible. Wind generator companies sprung up all over America. However, with the passage of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, the wind industry was driven out of business. By the 1950s, government policies favoring utility lines and fossil-fuel plants left the wind industry crippled. With the coming of the energy crisis in the 1970s, that trend began to reverse. Between 1976 and 1990, over 5,000 small wind systems were installed at individual homes in America.

All of the People, Some of the Time

Wind power is a form of solar energy produced by the uneven heating of the earth's surface. It is a highly variable source of energy, as anyone who has failed to keep a kite aloft or battened down for a hurricane will attest.

Although it's an energy source that is almost impossible to regulate, wind power is democratic. Everyone gets some and it is free to all. Nobody owns it. It is also a clean technology, emitting no pollutants as it transforms wind into electrical power. And it is the cheapest energy technology we have today. In some ideal wind locations, the cost of wind-generated electricity is just 5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Anyone who has paid a utility bill knows that it doesn't get much cheaper.

There are many places across the United States that are ideal wind sites. Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and Minnesota offer some of the most promising locations for wind power. South Dakota, the "Saudi Arabia of wind energy," actually has enough wind resources to provide half of the electricity for all of America. There are also pockets of ideal wind sites scattered throughout the country. You can find a place where wind power is economical in Arizona, Florida, New York, Vermont, and, in fact, in almost all 50 states.

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