Wind Turbine Payback in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK
Wind turbine payback in Matanuska-Susitna Borough
No. The turbine wears out before it pays for itself.
At 30 m, the height a home turbine tower usually reaches, the wind in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK averages 4.5 m/s (10.1 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 9,339 kWh a year, worth $2,551 at AK's 27.32¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 39 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Matanuska-Susitna Borough
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Matanuska-Susitna Borough unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 5.8 m/s at the hub against 4.5 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 750 kWh a year here against the turbine's 934, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 54¢/kWh, 2.0 times what AK pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 5.8 m/s instead of 4.5. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of AK
Matanuska-Susitna Borough is the 1,743rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in AK is Aleutians West Census Area at 9.35 m/s, payback 9 years.
Month by month in Matanuska-Susitna Borough
January is the strongest month here, at 6.49 m/s and about 1,981 kWh. June is the weakest, 2.95 m/s and 202 kWh, so the best month makes 9.8 times the worst. November to March brings in 75% of the year's output in Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.49 m/s | 1,981 kWh | $541 |
| February | 5.68 m/s | 1,328 kWh | $363 |
| March | 5.27 m/s | 1,223 kWh | $334 |
| April | 3.66 m/s | 412 kWh | $113 |
| May | 3.21 m/s | 278 kWh | $76 |
| June | 2.95 m/s | 202 kWh | $55 |
| July | 3.11 m/s | 250 kWh | $68 |
| August | 3.26 m/s | 291 kWh | $80 |
| September | 3.65 m/s | 408 kWh | $111 |
| October | 4.56 m/s | 823 kWh | $225 |
| November | 5.96 m/s | 1,598 kWh | $437 |
| December | 6.28 m/s | 1,850 kWh | $505 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Matanuska-Susitna Borough averages 3.61 m/s; at 50 m it is 4.99 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.201, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 7,358 to 12,467 kWh a year, 69% 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 | 4.15 m/s | 7,358 kWh | 50 years |
| 30 m | 4.5 m/s | 9,357 kWh | 39 years |
| 40 m | 4.77 m/s | 11,025 kWh | 33 years |
| 50 m | 4.99 m/s | 12,467 kWh | 29 years |
Counties around Matanuska-Susitna Borough
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Chugach Census Area, averages 6.07 m/s.
- Anchorage Municipality, AK: 3.5 m/s, 4,329 kWh, payback 85 years (76 mi)
- Denali Borough, AK: 4.06 m/s, 6,883 kWh, payback 53 years (99 mi)
- Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK: 3.87 m/s, 5,942 kWh, payback 62 years (161 mi)
- Chugach Census Area, AK: 6.07 m/s, 20,223 kWh, payback 18 years (164 mi)
- Copper River Census Area, AK: 2.86 m/s, 2,205 kWh, payback over 100 years (181 mi)
- Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK: 3.23 m/s, 3,333 kWh, payback over 100 years (190 mi)
Sun versus wind in Matanuska-Susitna Borough
Matanuska-Susitna Borough gets 2.57 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 750 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 934. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.2 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.