Wind Turbine Payback in McCone County, MT
Wind turbine payback in McCone 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 McCone County, MT averages 6.43 m/s (14.4 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 22,891 kWh a year, worth $3,234 at MT's 14.13¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 31 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in McCone County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in McCone County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 6.43 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,183 kWh a year here against the turbine's 2,289, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 22¢/kWh, 1.5 times what MT pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 8.2 m/s instead of 6.43. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MT
McCone County is the 290th 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 McCone County
January is the strongest month here, at 6.91 m/s and about 2,240 kWh. July is the weakest, 5.73 m/s and 1,503 kWh, so the best month makes 1.5 times the worst. November to March brings in 45% of the year's output in McCone County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.91 m/s | 2,240 kWh | $317 |
| February | 6.20 m/s | 1,628 kWh | $230 |
| March | 6.61 m/s | 2,057 kWh | $291 |
| April | 6.65 m/s | 2,012 kWh | $284 |
| May | 6.41 m/s | 1,933 kWh | $273 |
| June | 6.11 m/s | 1,684 kWh | $238 |
| July | 5.73 m/s | 1,503 kWh | $212 |
| August | 5.79 m/s | 1,542 kWh | $218 |
| September | 6.20 m/s | 1,744 kWh | $246 |
| October | 6.82 m/s | 2,185 kWh | $309 |
| November | 6.99 m/s | 2,216 kWh | $313 |
| December | 6.75 m/s | 2,141 kWh | $303 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in McCone County averages 5.13 m/s; at 50 m it is 7.14 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.205, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 19,092 to 28,038 kWh a year, 47% 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 | 5.92 m/s | 19,092 kWh | 37 years |
| 30 m | 6.43 m/s | 22,892 kWh | 31 years |
| 40 m | 6.82 m/s | 25,752 kWh | 28 years |
| 50 m | 7.14 m/s | 28,038 kWh | 25 years |
Counties around McCone County
1 of the 6 closest counties is windier at turbine height; the windiest, Dawson County, averages 6.49 m/s.
- Dawson County, MT: 6.49 m/s, 23,333 kWh, payback 30 years (47 mi)
- Richland County, MT: 6.27 m/s, 21,706 kWh, payback 33 years (57 mi)
- Roosevelt County, MT: 6.24 m/s, 21,484 kWh, payback 33 years (57 mi)
- Prairie County, MT: 6.37 m/s, 22,447 kWh, payback 32 years (58 mi)
- Garfield County, MT: 6.41 m/s, 22,743 kWh, payback 31 years (63 mi)
- Valley County, MT: 6.11 m/s, 20,520 kWh, payback 35 years (65 mi)
Sun versus wind in McCone County
McCone County gets 4.05 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,183 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 2,289. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.9 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.