Indian Mesa wind farm combined 125 turbines with sheep grazing and $930,000 in school taxes

In May 2001, the Indian Mesa wind farm began operating in Pecos County, West Texas, with 125 turbines and a total installed capacity of 82.5 MW. The project sits on a mesa where the uses of the land include grazing livestock, primarily sheep, and hunting, and the project does not limit these uses. According to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the project paid about $930,000 in local school district taxes in 2003. The details appear in report GAO-04-756, published in September 2004, which summarises visits to nine wind power projects in five states.When did the Indian Mesa wind farm in Texas begin operatingThe Indian Mesa project is in Pecos County, Texas, and is owned by FPL Energy, a company based in Florida. The report states that the project started operating in May 2001 and has 125 turbines, with a total installed capacity of 82.5 MW. The GAO lists the power purchasers as the Lower Colorado River Authority and Texas Utilities Company, and records four landowners.The GAO states that "the Indian Mesa wind farm is located in West Texas, an area with strong, sustained wind resources." The report gives an annual generation estimate of 250 million kWh for the project. I...