The wind turbines stand 80 meters tall with rotor blades of varying length, depending upon the design, and huge cables run from the generator at the top down the length of the tower into transformers in the base of the unit, then underground into an electrical substation and eventually into transmission lines.

"From the ground to the tip of the blade is over 400 feet," Frandsen said.

For the turbines to operate, winds speeds can range from 5 mph up to about 50 mph. Frandsen said if winds are too high, the computer will stop the blades and "lock out" the turbine.

Also, he said the turbines are silent and have no impact on the land or livestock.

"(Ranchers) will graze this land. There won't be fences around; the cattle that graze now are going to graze right up to (the towers)," he said.

Frandsen added the land that is encumbered is the land on which the towers are constructed.

It takes about 100 workers to construct the project, with about 20 permanent workers needed to operate the wind farm after completion of all phases.

"And those are good-paying jobs; we're talking 40K and up," Tassainer said.

Though the project is located in Wyoming, Tassainer said he leases some of the property for his wind farm from Utahns who actually own the land. It took Tasco almost 10 years to get Phase 1 up and ready to run, but Tassainer said subsequent phases should now only take about a year to develop.

New power generation

Tasco designed and built the transmission lines that now connect to power distribution lines owned by Rocky Mountain Power. The majority of the electricity generated from the project will go to homes and businesses along the Wasatch Front.

"It's taken a lot of hard work to get here, but we just couldn't be more proud of a project," said Tassainer.

Initially, the company was incorporated as Tassainer Co., but he changed it upon realizing the difficulties people had spelling his name. It later became Tasco Engineering.

The company's current project includes 29 turbines for Phase 1; Phase 2 will have 38 turbines, with 38 for each subsequent phase — at least three phases and likely six. Overall the project could take six more years to complete.

Other than Phase 1, each farm will generate up to 80 megawatts of electricity. Each turbine is rated at 2,100 kilowatts (which would power 700 homes at full capacity). Phase 1 would power 20,300 homes. Subsequent phases would power 26,600 houses at full capacity.

"Most wind production facilities are rated somewhere between 30 and 45 percent. But, actually, the highest I've ever seen is like 42 percent," said Tassainer.

"On an average day, 7,000 homes could get their power just from Phase 1," said Frandsen.

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