Wind Turbine Payback in Judith Basin County, MT
Wind turbine payback in Judith Basin 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 Judith Basin County, MT averages 5.97 m/s (13.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,482 kWh a year, worth $2,753 at MT's 14.13¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 36 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Judith Basin County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Judith Basin County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 5.97 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,165 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,948, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 26¢/kWh, 1.8 times what MT pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 5.97. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MT
Judith Basin County is the 891st windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in MT is Fallon County at 6.64 m/s, payback 29 years.
Month by month in Judith Basin County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.50 m/s and about 2,596 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.60 m/s and 847 kWh, so the best month makes 3.1 times the worst. November to March brings in 56% of the year's output in Judith Basin County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.50 m/s | 2,596 kWh | $367 |
| February | 6.60 m/s | 1,852 kWh | $262 |
| March | 6.35 m/s | 1,896 kWh | $268 |
| April | 5.82 m/s | 1,509 kWh | $213 |
| May | 5.33 m/s | 1,261 kWh | $178 |
| June | 5.06 m/s | 1,065 kWh | $150 |
| July | 4.60 m/s | 847 kWh | $120 |
| August | 4.64 m/s | 866 kWh | $122 |
| September | 5.27 m/s | 1,185 kWh | $167 |
| October | 6.34 m/s | 1,885 kWh | $266 |
| November | 7.03 m/s | 2,240 kWh | $317 |
| December | 7.11 m/s | 2,363 kWh | $334 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Judith Basin County averages 4.52 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.79 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.253, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,212 to 25,529 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 | 5.39 m/s | 15,212 kWh | 47 years |
| 30 m | 5.97 m/s | 19,458 kWh | 36 years |
| 40 m | 6.42 m/s | 22,797 kWh | 31 years |
| 50 m | 6.79 m/s | 25,529 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Judith Basin County
3 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Fergus County, averages 6.18 m/s.
- Meagher County, MT: 4.63 m/s, 10,132 kWh, payback 70 years (42 mi)
- Wheatland County, MT: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 38 years (43 mi)
- Fergus County, MT: 6.18 m/s, 21,039 kWh, payback 34 years (52 mi)
- Cascade County, MT: 5.69 m/s, 17,419 kWh, payback 41 years (53 mi)
- Chouteau County, MT: 6.09 m/s, 20,371 kWh, payback 35 years (59 mi)
- Golden Valley County, MT: 6 m/s, 19,704 kWh, payback 36 years (70 mi)
Sun versus wind in Judith Basin County
Judith Basin County gets 3.99 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,165 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 1,948. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.7 times. 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.