Wind powering America: South Dakota Page: 1 of 2
This book is part of the collection entitled: Office of Scientific & Technical Information Technical Reports and was provided to UNT Digital Library by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
South Dakota
Since earliest recorded history, wind
power has been used to move ships,
grind grain, and pump water. Today,
wind power is also being used to pro-
vide electricity to homes, schools, busi-
nesses, and entire communities. Wind
power has been the fastest growing
source of electricity generation in the
world in the 1990s. More than half the
United States has wind resources that
could support the development of utility-
scale wind power plants.
According to a report, An Assessment
of the Available Windy Land Area and
Wind Energy Potential in the United
States, written by Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory, nearly half of
South Dakota is classified as having
enough wind to produce electric power.
This development potential is equivalent
to around 35/ of the total U.S. electric
demand. Only 2% to 5% of the total land
required for wind energy production is
actually occupied by the turbine foun-
dations and access roads. The remain-
ing land is compatible with rural land
use, such as farming and ranching.
Although South Dakota currently lacks
the transmission-line capacity to get
wind energy to load centers such as
Minneapolis and Chicago, the state
could start with wind development for
smaller local loads (i.e., Sioux falls) if
local utilities would agree to purchase
the power and reduce output from exist-
ing conventional electric plants.
Green Pricing
"Green power" is power produced by
renewable ("green") energy sources, as
distinct from power produced by fossil
fuel, nuclear, and other types of genera-
tors. Customers can arrange to pur-
chase a certain amount of green power
(actually energy, in kilowatt-hours [kWh])
per month, for which they commonly pay
a small premium to completely or partly
offset any higher cost of renewable
power sources. The policy of transfer-
ring these costs to green power cus-
tomers is called "green pricing."
Because wind power is currently margin-
ally more expensive than fossil-fueled
alternatives (at current short-termprices), cost is one of the main
impediments to wind development
in South Dakota. fuel-price volatil-
ity and environmental factors are
not factored into today's electric
choice decisions. This is chang-
ing in states with deregulation,
where consumers are often choos-
ing to pay more for environmen-
tally preferred alternatives such
as wind. In addition, wind prices
are expected to continue to
decline significantly in the next
few years.
State Incentives
Statute 10-6-35.20 exempts renew-
able energy systems on residen-
tial and commercial property
from local property taxes. The
exemption applies to the entire
assessed value of residential
systems and 50/ of the installed
cost of commercial systems, and
it may be taken for three years
after installation. This exemption
is not allowed for systems that
produce energy for resale.
State Summary
In-State Wind Energy Potential:
465,500 megawatt capacity after land
use and environmental exclusions
776 billion kilowatt-hours per year
electric energy
Key Contacts
Governor's Office of Economic
Development
711 East Wells Avenue
Pierre, South Dakota 57501-3369
(800) 872-6190 or (605) 773-5032
http://www.state.sd. usI
I'
What is the installed
wind energy capacity
in the United States?
By January 2000, the total
U.S. installed wind energy
capacity was 2500 MW.
(See http://www.awea.org/
faq/instcap.html) That's
enough electricity to meet
the needs of 600,000 to
800,000 typical U.S.
homes.1
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.). Wind powering America: South Dakota, book, April 11, 2000; Golden, Colorado. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc702125/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.