Wind Turbines: Build 'Em Where You Use 'Em, in South Dakota!

South Dakota peeps up from the pages of the New York Times, as Clipper Windpower talks about the merits of not just putting up wind turbines in South Dakota, but building them here as well. Clipper VP Peter Stricker tells NYT that transporting turbines to the windy places eats into the margin. I imagine it is a lot easier to haul a few truckloads of parts and raw metal to a plant in South Dakota than it is to strap down a full-length turbine blade to a flatbed or two and try making that tight turn on Highway 34 in Madison.

Now if we could just find a way to build turbines from corncobs and switchgrass....