The model provides a broad projection that not only considers the direct effects of a plant, such as wages paid to construction workers and plant supervisors, but also the indirect effects, such as money paid in property taxes and money spent by its workers in the local economy.

The full report is available online at www.windpoweringamerica.gov in the publications section.

Wasatch Wind, the developer of the proposed farm in Spanish Fork, was close to beginning construction early this year at a site near the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon but moved the project farther up the canyon after residents opposed the location of the original site.

Wasatch Wind President Tracy Livingston said he was pleased to hear the findings of the Utah State study but not surprised.

"I think (the study) clearly, overwhelmingly shows that a small wind farm project can have a very dramatic impact on the economy of the city of Spanish Fork and Utah County," he said.

Livingston said he hopes the Spanish Fork project will be a positive example to similar communities throughout the state.

"As we've been saying all along, small wind farms have a unique benefit to local communities, and these power plants are particularly beneficial in small, rural communities," he said.

Wasatch Wind has secured lease agreements at the second site and is now working on getting the land annexed into the city and properly zoned. The wind farm is expected to be completed sometime in 2007.

But the biggest hurdle the project faces, Livingston said, is in the state Legislature, where he hopes to have a renewable energy tax credit, which was removed in the last session, restored. The credit, he said, is essential for a wind farm to be economically viable.

"We were depending on (the credit)," he said. "It was something that was in place for five years . . . and we made a development decision based on that tax credit being in place."

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E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com