Good weather for wind farms near Clear Lake

Tue, Jul 27, 2010 | by Michael Morain

Hundreds of towering wind-farm turbines have provided an elegant, almost hypnotic backdrop for stretches of this year’s route, and many riders have stopped to snap photos.

After facing brutal headwinds for a 7-mile stretch south of Garner, riders learned firsthand why northern Iowa is well-suited for the new industry. Many stopped at an informational display at the Cerro Gordo Wind Farm a few miles southwest of Clear Lake and added all kinds of new-fangled terms to their vocabulary, including: anemometer (a device which measures wind speed), nacelle (the rotating hub that houses a turbines mechanics) and yaw motor (which helps the turbine orient toward the wind).

Jim Aphrem, a 60-year-old family doctor from Ashland, Ky., heard that energy companies annually pay property owners up to $6,000 for each turbine on their land. He figured he could retire if he installed a few back home.

“I’m going to look into it,” he said.

– Michael Morain

Clear Lake, RAGBRAI, wind

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