Wind Turbine Payback in Blaine County, ID
Wind turbine payback in Blaine County
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Blaine County, ID averages 4.2 m/s (9.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 7,623 kWh a year, worth $993 at ID's 13.02¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of over 100 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Blaine County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Blaine County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.7 m/s at the hub against 4.2 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,329 kWh a year here against the turbine's 762, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 66¢/kWh, 5.0 times what ID pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.7 m/s instead of 4.2. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of ID
Blaine County is the 1,951st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in ID is Owyhee County at 5.38 m/s, payback 51 years.
Month by month in Blaine County
June is the strongest month here, at 4.59 m/s and about 811 kWh. January is the weakest, 3.58 m/s and 394 kWh, so the best month makes 2.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 35% of the year's output in Blaine County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.58 m/s | 394 kWh | $51 |
| February | 4.09 m/s | 540 kWh | $70 |
| March | 4.49 m/s | 787 kWh | $102 |
| April | 4.52 m/s | 779 kWh | $101 |
| May | 4.46 m/s | 773 kWh | $101 |
| June | 4.59 m/s | 811 kWh | $106 |
| July | 4.51 m/s | 796 kWh | $104 |
| August | 4.32 m/s | 702 kWh | $91 |
| September | 4.09 m/s | 578 kWh | $75 |
| October | 4.09 m/s | 598 kWh | $78 |
| November | 3.87 m/s | 490 kWh | $64 |
| December | 3.78 m/s | 470 kWh | $61 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Blaine County averages 3.37 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.65 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.200, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 5,948 to 10,257 kWh a year, 72% more, before counting the extra cost of the taller tower. Why tower height decides it explains the shear behind these numbers.
| Hub height | Average wind | Output | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 m | 3.87 m/s | 5,948 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.2 m/s | 7,615 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.45 m/s | 9,024 kWh | 85 years |
| 50 m | 4.65 m/s | 10,257 kWh | 75 years |
Counties around Blaine County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Jerome County, averages 5.3 m/s.
- Lincoln County, ID: 4.97 m/s, 12,333 kWh, payback 62 years (30 mi)
- Minidoka County, ID: 4.93 m/s, 12,065 kWh, payback 64 years (40 mi)
- Camas County, ID: 4.1 m/s, 7,090 kWh, payback over 100 years (42 mi)
- Butte County, ID: 4.32 m/s, 8,289 kWh, payback 93 years (44 mi)
- Jerome County, ID: 5.3 m/s, 14,608 kWh, payback 53 years (51 mi)
- Gooding County, ID: 4.99 m/s, 12,467 kWh, payback 62 years (52 mi)
Sun versus wind in Blaine County
Blaine County gets 4.55 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,329 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 762. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.7 times as much here as the turbine. Panel output assumes an 80% system performance ratio. Wind or solar runs the same comparison for every county.
How this is worked out
Wind is NASA's Power climate record, the 2001-2025 average at 10 m and 50 m for the county's centre, carried to 30 m with this county's own measured wind shear and spread into hours with a Rayleigh distribution. The turbine is a generic 10 kW, 7 m rotor machine with 10% losses. Cost is $10,000 per kW installed with no tax credit, because the federal one ended in 2025. One county-centre number cannot see your hilltop or your tree line, so treat it as the starting point for a site survey, not a substitute. The full method and its weak spots are in how the numbers are made.