Tassainer said wind technology has made huge improvements over the past seven to 10 years.

"Quite frankly, until three years ago when we started seeing major increases in (the prices of) oil and gas, wind has not been as competitive," Tassainer said. "The technology itself has been a hard technology for utilities to accept."

He added it has taken some time for power producers to catch up with the "out of the box" thinking wind power requires.

"PacifiCorp has changed their attitude nearly 180 degrees in the last six years," Tassainer said.

He attributes the change to the "exceeding pressure" due to the high price of coal and oil and natural gas.

"Anybody is a fool who doesn't admit that we've got some problems with our environment," he said. "The global warming deal is real, and people that don't believe that, they've got their head in the sand."

He conceded that technology is advancing to make fossil fuels burn cleaner, and nuclear energy could also play a more prominent role in the coming years.

Tassainer said, "One thing you need to keep in mind is that if all of the wind in the United States was developed for (electricity) generation, it would only satisfy 20 percent of the demand."

He said the development of wind power is a supplement to the nation's energy needs, not a way to eliminate any other particular source.

"Too many people fought the technology because they thought it would be a replacement, and it just can't."

Costly yet profitable

Tassainer said wind power generation has now become so popular, companies that manufacture turbine towers cannot keep up with demand, and the waiting time for new towers is 2009.

He estimated the cost to develop and ultimately build this project at about $150 million for the first phase, he said. Costs were so high, he said, that he had to sell his project to Mission Energy, a subsidiary of California Edison, which supplies electricity to Los Angeles. However, he retained the rights to develop the electrical system for the project.

Tassainer said the wind energy industry is in its infancy right now, but it is already feeling the heat of competition from various companies wading into the industry.

He said in the beginning, landowners were expected to get about $2,000-$3,000 per turbine for leasing their property, but dynamics have changed dramatically and so has profitabilty. Today, landowners are "getting between $7,000 and $8,000 per turbine (annually) if it sits on their property," said Tassainer. "And those are 20-year leases."

Fruits of labor