Wind Turbine Payback in East Baton Rouge Parish, LA
Wind turbine payback in East Baton Rouge Parish
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in East Baton Rouge Parish, LA averages 4.13 m/s (9.2 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 7,248 kWh a year, worth $962 at LA's 13.27¢/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 East Baton Rouge Parish
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in East Baton Rouge Parish unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.6 m/s at the hub against 4.13 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,364 kWh a year here against the turbine's 725, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 69¢/kWh, 5.2 times what LA pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.6 m/s instead of 4.13. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of LA
East Baton Rouge Parish is the 1,981st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in LA is Iberia Parish at 5.86 m/s, payback 40 years.
Month by month in East Baton Rouge Parish
March is the strongest month here, at 4.75 m/s and about 927 kWh. July is the weakest, 3.10 m/s and 246 kWh, so the best month makes 3.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 57% of the year's output in East Baton Rouge Parish.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.71 m/s | 904 kWh | $120 |
| February | 4.82 m/s | 871 kWh | $116 |
| March | 4.75 m/s | 927 kWh | $123 |
| April | 4.76 m/s | 902 kWh | $120 |
| May | 4.10 m/s | 602 kWh | $80 |
| June | 3.42 m/s | 330 kWh | $44 |
| July | 3.10 m/s | 246 kWh | $33 |
| August | 3.13 m/s | 255 kWh | $34 |
| September | 3.60 m/s | 388 kWh | $51 |
| October | 4.11 m/s | 606 kWh | $80 |
| November | 4.47 m/s | 755 kWh | $100 |
| December | 4.65 m/s | 872 kWh | $116 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in East Baton Rouge Parish averages 2.92 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.86 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.317, typical of rough, sheltered ground: trees or buildings slow the low wind a lot. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 4,883 to 11,603 kWh a year, 138% 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 | 3.63 m/s | 4,883 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 4.13 m/s | 7,266 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 4.53 m/s | 9,508 kWh | 79 years |
| 50 m | 4.86 m/s | 11,603 kWh | 65 years |
Counties around East Baton Rouge Parish
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Ascension Parish, averages 4.7 m/s.
- West Baton Rouge Parish, LA: 4.13 m/s, 7,248 kWh, payback over 100 years (14 mi)
- East Feliciana Parish, LA: 3.4 m/s, 3,942 kWh, payback over 100 years (21 mi)
- Livingston Parish, LA: 3.25 m/s, 3,402 kWh, payback over 100 years (23 mi)
- Iberville Parish, LA: 4.13 m/s, 7,248 kWh, payback over 100 years (25 mi)
- Ascension Parish, LA: 4.7 m/s, 10,571 kWh, payback 71 years (26 mi)
- St. Helena Parish, LA: 2.97 m/s, 2,513 kWh, payback over 100 years (30 mi)
Sun versus wind in East Baton Rouge Parish
East Baton Rouge Parish gets 4.67 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,364 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 725. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 1.9 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.