Wind Power in Howard County Brings Road Improvements

Lost from much of the discussion of wind turbines is what they can do financially for the landowners and counties that host them.

Located in Iowa’s northern tier of counties, Howard County is where the hilly Driftless – which doesn’t have a financially viable large-scale wind resource – meets flat cropland:  We are the northeast corner of Iowa’s windlands. The county has three major wind developments (with rumors that a fourth might be coming):

  • Crane Creek, with 66 turbines rated at 99 megawatts, finished in 2009 and providing power to Wisconsin Public Service; [1]
  • Pioneer Prairie (shared with Mitchell County), 182 wind turbines on-line in 2008/9 with a nameplate capacity of 300 megawatts and providing power to the TVA [2] [3]
  • Saratoga Wind, on-line in 2019 with 33 turbines and a nameplate capacity of 66 megawatts and providing power to Madison (WI) Gas & Electric [4]

Posted: January 30, 2023


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Amy Bouska

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