Wind Turbine Payback in Crook County, OR
Wind turbine payback in Crook 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 Crook County, OR averages 4.99 m/s (11.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 12,467 kWh a year, worth $1,927 at OR's 15.46¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 52 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Crook County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Crook County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 4.99 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,279 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,247, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 40¢/kWh, 2.6 times what OR pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 4.99. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OR
Crook County is the 1,457th windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OR is Gilliam County at 5.48 m/s, payback 41 years.
Month by month in Crook County
December is the strongest month here, at 6.16 m/s and about 1,777 kWh. August is the weakest, 3.86 m/s and 500 kWh, so the best month makes 3.6 times the worst. November to March brings in 60% of the year's output in Crook County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.09 m/s | 1,732 kWh | $268 |
| February | 5.70 m/s | 1,341 kWh | $207 |
| March | 5.54 m/s | 1,385 kWh | $214 |
| April | 5.00 m/s | 1,029 kWh | $159 |
| May | 4.53 m/s | 809 kWh | $125 |
| June | 4.35 m/s | 696 kWh | $108 |
| July | 3.93 m/s | 529 kWh | $82 |
| August | 3.86 m/s | 500 kWh | $77 |
| September | 4.08 m/s | 575 kWh | $89 |
| October | 4.83 m/s | 968 kWh | $150 |
| November | 5.85 m/s | 1,529 kWh | $236 |
| December | 6.16 m/s | 1,777 kWh | $275 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Crook County averages 3.95 m/s; at 50 m it is 5.56 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.212, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 9,814 to 16,471 kWh a year, 68% 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 | 4.58 m/s | 9,814 kWh | 66 years |
| 30 m | 4.99 m/s | 12,463 kWh | 52 years |
| 40 m | 5.3 m/s | 14,630 kWh | 44 years |
| 50 m | 5.56 m/s | 16,471 kWh | 39 years |
Counties around Crook County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Gilliam County, averages 5.48 m/s.
- Wheeler County, OR: 4.53 m/s, 9,519 kWh, payback 68 years (43 mi)
- Deschutes County, OR: 4.23 m/s, 7,787 kWh, payback 83 years (46 mi)
- Jefferson County, OR: 3.93 m/s, 6,231 kWh, payback over 100 years (52 mi)
- Grant County, OR: 3.34 m/s, 3,720 kWh, payback over 100 years (71 mi)
- Wasco County, OR: 3.62 m/s, 4,820 kWh, payback over 100 years (79 mi)
- Gilliam County, OR: 5.48 m/s, 15,893 kWh, payback 41 years (84 mi)
Sun versus wind in Crook County
Crook County gets 4.38 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,279 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,247. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.0 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.