Town’s Dependence of Fossil Fuels is Gone with the Wind

By Madeline Hyden

A small town in Missouri made history earlier this year as the first in America to receive its electricity solely from wind energy. Rock Port, located in northwest Missouri, uses four wind turbines to provide electricity to its 1,300 residents. The Loess Hills Wind Farm, which went into operation in April, is projected to produce 16 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. Because the town only requires 13 million kilowatt hours per year, the excess wind power will be sold to surrounding areas, according to The Columbia Daily Tribune. Loess Hills is one of four wind farms constructed by Wind Capital Group of St. Louis, and its construction employed about 500 people from 20 states.