Diamond Wind Energy, LLC Wind Turbine

Banker and business owner Bob Meyerson of Atwater, MN has always been interested in conservation technologies, and finding ways and ideas that could help farmers increase their incomes.

A bankers committee that he was serving on, was financing a wind turbine project in southern Minnesota. Interested, Bob wanted more information on the topic so he attended seminars on wind turbine technologies. He realized this could work for him and other farmers.  "I've always been curious about environmental, social and political issues and I've been involved in the economic development of the area." he said.  "I hoped this could represent another 'crop' of the local farmers.  Since the 80's I've worked to enhance farm income and it seemed the best opportunities for farmers were as contractors."

He knew a good place to place a wind turbine. As a runner, his route took him to the top of a hill where the wind was strong. The hill was located on a neighboring farm owned by Leroy and Barb Everson, longtime customers of Meyerson.

After approaching the Eversons with the project idea, they decided to lease land on a kilowatt-hour generated basis.  "They wanted to get involved," Meyerson said of the Eversons.
Eversons were not worried about cropping or grazing around the turbine. They only wanted to be sure they could still hunt on the property.

Needing to create a lease to model for other wind developers and landowners, Bob found a law firm that could deal with the unique issues of leasing land for the development of wind turbines.

Bob then made a co-generation agreement with Kandiyohi Power Company with his recently formed company, Diamond Wind Energy, LLC (DWE).  This "interconnection" allows power produced by the turbine to feed into the Kandiyohi power grid. Diamond Wind Energy, LLC is then paid for the power the turbine has produced. 

Bob called David Winkelman of WERC because they had worked together in the past. David sited him a 20 kW Jacobs Turbine for the site. The location was suitable to produce about 20,000kWh per year. Gross payback on the turbine would be about 10 years.

Bob hired WERC to plan, purchase, install and service a Jacobs 31-20 on a 120 foot tower. WERC also assisted by applying and acquiring for a USDA grant for Diamond Wind Energy, LLC.

Recently however, the tower has had a problem. The power breaker goes off all the time. WERC was called in to inspect and troubleshoot the turbine and inverter. Currently looking at replacing specific components in the inverter and replacing primary circut board with a specially "tuned" board.

The Jacobs name has a long and respected history in the wind power industry.  Joseph and Marcellus Jacobs of Montana came up with a way to provide electricity to their remote ranch in the 1920's by harnessing wind power and founded the Jacobs Wind Electric Company. During the 1930's they moved the company to Minneapolis.  The Jacobs' manufactured wind energy systems and marketed them to isolated farmers and ranchers around the world.