Northwest Small Wind Cooperative

Project Partners: Northwest SEED (Sustainable Energy for Economic Development), Northwest Cooperative Development Center, Climate Solutions, Last Mile Electric Cooperative Location: Various locations throughout Washington and Montana Capacity: 100+ kW Type of Power: Wind Placed into Service: May 2003 - September 2006 Project Links: Northwest SEED Our Wind Co-op

Partnering with NW Sustainable Energy for Economic Development and the Northwest Cooperative Development Center, BEF helped launch Our Wind Co-op. The goal is to demonstrate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of small locally owned wind turbines producing power to meet local loads throughout the Northwest. In order to meet the high initial costs of equipment, BEF has agreed to an up-front purchase of Green Tags produced by the wind co-op at 3.5 cents per kWh for ten years.

The Co-op will install five to ten small-scale (10kW) wind systems distributed across the Northwest that will be linked in part through sale of "Green Co-op Tags" to BEF. Purchasing Green Tags through "Our Wind Co-op" supports economic growth in these rural economies as well as environmentally friendly energy sources.