Canyon winds may be put to work

SPANISH FORK — Afternoon winds whipping through Spanish Fork Canyon could soon be put to work.

Heber City-based Wasatch Wind wants to erect two windmill towers to test the wind velocity in the area. Researchers want to determine if a wind farm would be viable at the mouth of the canyon as a low-cost source of electricity.

City officials have agreed to provide a testing site and directed City Attorney Junior Baker to draw up a rental agreement. The proposed testing site is a triangular patch of ground just outside the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon.

If the tests prove fruitful, the company will ask for permission to build a wind farm in the general area, said Tracy Livingston, Wasatch Wind's development manager. The farm would resemble one in Evanston, Wyo., he said.

The twin towers, which will range in height between 200 and 280 feet, will be used by researchers verify wind speeds in the area. The towers would go up late next summer and data would be collected for at least six months.

City Engineer Richard Heap said he sees no adverse affects in allowing temporary towers in a part of the city reserved for industry. If the tests prove viable for generating energy, city zoning rules governing what can be built in that part of the city would have to be changed before a wind farm could be constructed. Currently, wind farms aren't allowed anywhere in the city.

The wind development company will willing to sponsor a trip to Evanston for the City Council to see that wind farm, Livingston said.

The company is negotiating with PacifiCorp to buy the power under a 20-year contract. While, the late afternoon when the 1,500-kilowatt turbines would be pumping energy does not correspond with the peak demand period for energy use, Livingston said, there is a need for off-peak energy production and wind-generated power is competitive in price to coal-generated power.

He estimates the power created would cost 3.8-cents per kilowatt hour, well below the cost to produce energy at a new $100 million regional natural gas and steam-fired power plant in Payson. That power costs about 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour.

Spanish Fork residents will get the first opportunity to invest in the wind farm, if it is built, Livingston said.

"It's a hedge against rising coal and gas prices," Livingston said.

---

E-mail: rodger@desnews.com