A local campground is proving saving money on its electricity bills is, well, a breeze. The Mitchell KOA has the largest, electricity-producing wind turbine of any campground in the entire United States and even Canada.
We spoke with the owners Sunday about how they found a big improvement to the quality of life out there blowing in the wind.
Jim Cobb is the co-owner of the campground. He says recently the electricity bills to run the place have skyrocketed, we're talking thousands of dollars every month.
So Jim and his business partner Jerry decided they had to do something. Jim says they had Cleaner Greener Energies assess the possibility of putting a wind turbine in to help power the grounds.
He says in May they commissioned a Xzeres 442 wind turbine, with the help of some grants from the Treasury and USDA. It's the first of its kind in the whole state.
Jim says when there's a good wind going the turbine creates enough power to take care of about 20% of the electric needs for the camp.
He says this helps keep more green in both his and his guests' pockets and the clean energy keeps the environment greener too, saying, "this sets the tone for other people to follow we all have to pitch in, do our little itty-bitty part, even though it's not your own backyard when you're traveling, you've gotta recycle, re-use, reduce."
Jim says he hopes this gets more people interested in wind turbines for energy. He says South Dakota is the number four state for the amount of wind we get, but we're only number fourteen when it comes to generating that wind into clean electricity.
