Palm Springs Wind Farm

These things impress me every time I drive by.

As the wind rushes through the fabled San Gorgonio Pass, stupendous wind turbine blades are silently spinning overhead, with a rotor sweep half the length of a football field. WOW! These aren't the windmill we used to see on grandpa's farm

This wind farm on the San Gorgonio Mountain Pass in the San Bernadino Mountains contains more than 4000 separate windmills and provides enough electricity to power Palm Springs and the entire Coachella Valley.

Wind turbine generators are much less harmful to the environment than burning fossil fuels, but they do require average wind speeds of at least 21 km/h (13 mph). The largest of these windmills stands 150 feet tall with blades half the legend of a football field. The compartments at the top containing the generator, hub and gearbox weigh 30,000 to 45,000 pounds. A wind turbine's cost can range upwards to $300,000 and can produce 300 kilowatts an hour - the amount of electricity used by a typical household in a month. Almost all of the currently installed wind electric generation capacity is in California. They offer tours in case anyone is interested. www.windmilltours.com/info.htm

I took this photo as a 'drive-by shooting' through the windsheild on Interstate 10 heading towards LA from Palm Springs.