They are real nice looking, but seldom are more than 3 or 4 going at once!

How nice. Wait a few years and watch as they slowly die. Quit turning and left to be just more useless sculptures littering the countryside.

How can they "die"?

Will the wind quit?

I've been in that canyon. Believe me, the wind NEVER quits!

They won't "die", of course, unless there's a hurricane-force wind that damages them.

The problem with wind power is that it's quite unreliable. True, the capacity of the whole project might be 19 megawatts, but in reality the actual output will be far less and completely dependent on the weather.

If you have a sudden need for power and the wind doesn't cooperate, you have to burn more coal or natural gas to make up the difference.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against wind power per se. But if it were as reliable and profitable and inexpensive as its proponents and environmentalists claim it is, then we'd be getting most of our power from it.

The project is designed to capture winds in the mornings and evenings -- about 18 hours a day, the turbines are spinning. The winds die down in the mid-day and afternoons, but pick up in the evenings. While wind in some places are unreliable, Spanish Fork is a unique funnel that blows predictably in mornings and evenings.

As for the turbines being abandoned, that will never happen. Steel is so expensive that the scrap metal alone is worth millions. Additionally, wind will be the cheapest form of energy in the coming decade because it doesn't face escalating fossil fuel costs nor will it face carbon restrictions and extra carbon taxes now mandated by the Western Climate Initiatve.

As for K's mentioning that you need coal or natural gas for back up, it is the opposite that is true -- when the wind blows, you can back off your most expensive power resources, typically natural gas. Studies have shown that wind actually helps reduce gas costs because wind reduces its demand.

Wind is the fastest growing energy source in the world. Yes, it works, and it is bringing millions to rural communities throughout the nation.

So how much stock do you own in the project? Because your post sounds just like a starry-eyed prospectus designed to lure investors.

Truth is, wind power is only viable in some areas, and not completely reliable as a primary source of electricity. As was stated earlier, if wind power were so wonderful, it would have supplanted coal and gas years ago. Proof is in the pudding, folks.

What an eye sore to a beautiful canyon entrance.

I've driven Spanish Fork Canyon several times lately. The turbines are almost always turning. They face up canyon in the morning and toward the valley later in the day. That is a windy spot, from both directions.
One concern is the distraction they create for drivers. They're almost hypnotic when they're moving.

eye soar is right. If they can be in a beautiful canyon, why can't cal. and florida have drilling rigs of their coast.

Isn't it better to have something that helps the environment some of the time rather then have nothing at all, and compared to all the concrete and pavement the turbines are beautiful! You have to give a little to get a little and our environment needs all the help it can get have you noticed the pollution?

I was vacationing in Utah just this past week and drove by the windfarm. You are so lucky to have this. I live in Cleveland, Ohio where we have the belching smokestacks of dirty coal-burning power plants. The air stinks of sulphur and is brown some days. We would love to have a windfarm out on Lake Erie, but local politics is preventing it.