Wind Turbine Payback in Wallowa County, OR
Wind turbine payback in Wallowa 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 Wallowa County, OR averages 3.38 m/s (7.6 mph). A 10 kW turbine there would make about 3,868 kWh a year, worth $598 at OR's 15.46¢/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 Wallowa County
A home turbine is not worth buying for savings in Wallowa County unless your spot is far windier than the county average, 7.8 m/s at the hub against 3.38 m/s here. Per kW, solar panels would make about 1,194 kWh a year here against the turbine's 387, so get a solar quote first.
What would have to change
- Power would have to cost 129¢/kWh, 8.4 times what OR pays now.
- Or the average wind at the hub would have to be 7.8 m/s instead of 3.38. A taller tower or an exposed ridge can add some of that; a rooftop never will.
Against the rest of OR
Wallowa County is the 2,643rd windiest of 3,144 US counties at turbine height; the national middle is 4.79 m/s. The windiest in OR is Gilliam County at 5.48 m/s, payback 41 years.
Month by month in Wallowa County
January is the strongest month here, at 4.45 m/s and about 767 kWh. August is the weakest, 2.43 m/s and 103 kWh, so the best month makes 7.4 times the worst. November to March brings in 70% of the year's output in Wallowa County.
| Month | Wind at 30 m | Output | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.45 m/s | 767 kWh | $119 |
| February | 3.94 m/s | 482 kWh | $75 |
| March | 3.83 m/s | 490 kWh | $76 |
| April | 3.34 m/s | 305 kWh | $47 |
| May | 2.86 m/s | 186 kWh | $29 |
| June | 2.70 m/s | 147 kWh | $23 |
| July | 2.43 m/s | 103 kWh | $16 |
| August | 2.43 m/s | 103 kWh | $16 |
| September | 2.67 m/s | 142 kWh | $22 |
| October | 3.36 m/s | 323 kWh | $50 |
| November | 4.23 m/s | 642 kWh | $99 |
| December | 4.37 m/s | 727 kWh | $112 |
What a taller tower would buy
Measured at 10 m the wind in Wallowa County averages 2.63 m/s; at 50 m it is 3.8 m/s. That gives a shear exponent of 0.229, typical of ordinary open country. Going from 20 m to 50 m takes output from 2,846 to 5,614 kWh a year, 97% 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 | 3.08 m/s | 2,846 kWh | over 100 years |
| 30 m | 3.38 m/s | 3,869 kWh | over 100 years |
| 40 m | 3.61 m/s | 4,781 kWh | over 100 years |
| 50 m | 3.8 m/s | 5,614 kWh | over 100 years |
Counties around Wallowa County
5 of the 6 closest counties are windier at turbine height; the windiest, Columbia County, averages 5.18 m/s.
- Asotin County, WA: 3.69 m/s, 5,121 kWh, payback over 100 years (41 mi)
- Union County, OR: 4.23 m/s, 7,787 kWh, payback 83 years (44 mi)
- Nez Perce County, ID: 3.94 m/s, 6,280 kWh, payback over 100 years (55 mi)
- Lewis County, ID: 3.33 m/s, 3,684 kWh, payback over 100 years (58 mi)
- Columbia County, WA: 5.18 m/s, 13,768 kWh, payback 50 years (60 mi)
- Garfield County, WA: 4.91 m/s, 11,933 kWh, payback 58 years (60 mi)
Sun versus wind in Wallowa County
Wallowa County gets 4.09 kWh of sunshine per square metre a day on average. One kW of solar panels here would make roughly 1,194 kWh a year; one kW of the turbine above makes 387. Kilowatt for kilowatt, panels make 3.1 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.