Wind Turbine Payback in Musselshell County, MT
Wind turbine payback in Musselshell 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 Musselshell County, MT averages 5.95 m/s (13.3 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 19,334 kWh a year, worth $2,732 at MT's 14.13¢/kWh. Against an installed cost of about $100,000, that is a payback of 37 years, and the turbine is built to last about 20.
What to do in Musselshell County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Musselshell County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 8.2 m/s at the hub against 5.95 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,183 kWh a year here against the turbine's 1,933, 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 5.95. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of MT
Musselshell County is the 914th 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 Musselshell County
January is the strongest month here, at 7.24 m/s and about 2,442 kWh. July is the weakest, 4.72 m/s and 906 kWh, so the best month makes 2.7 times the worst. November to March brings in 53% of the year's output in Musselshell County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.24 m/s | 2,442 kWh | $345 |
| February | 6.36 m/s | 1,714 kWh | $242 |
| March | 6.19 m/s | 1,791 kWh | $253 |
| April | 5.96 m/s | 1,593 kWh | $225 |
| May | 5.57 m/s | 1,403 kWh | $198 |
| June | 5.16 m/s | 1,120 kWh | $158 |
| July | 4.72 m/s | 906 kWh | $128 |
| August | 4.82 m/s | 964 kWh | $136 |
| September | 5.35 m/s | 1,232 kWh | $174 |
| October | 6.27 m/s | 1,842 kWh | $260 |
| November | 6.90 m/s | 2,162 kWh | $305 |
| December | 6.91 m/s | 2,239 kWh | $316 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Musselshell County averages 4.59 m/s; at 50 m it is 6.71 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.236, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 15,356 to 24,947 kWh a year, 62% 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 | 5.41 m/s | 15,356 kWh | 46 years |
| 30 m | 5.95 m/s | 19,319 kWh | 37 years |
| 40 m | 6.37 m/s | 22,416 kWh | 32 years |
| 50 m | 6.71 m/s | 24,947 kWh | 28 years |
Counties around Musselshell County
2 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Fergus County, averages 6.18 m/s.
- Golden Valley County, MT: 6 m/s, 19,704 kWh, payback 36 years (36 mi)
- Yellowstone County, MT: 5.74 m/s, 17,785 kWh, payback 40 years (40 mi)
- Petroleum County, MT: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 38 years (45 mi)
- Treasure County, MT: 5.74 m/s, 17,785 kWh, payback 40 years (59 mi)
- Fergus County, MT: 6.18 m/s, 21,039 kWh, payback 34 years (62 mi)
- Wheatland County, MT: 5.89 m/s, 18,890 kWh, payback 38 years (67 mi)
Sun versus wind in Musselshell County
Musselshell 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 1,933. This is one of the rare places where a kilowatt of turbine out-produces a kilowatt of panels, by 1.6 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.