Spokane utility to build wind farm

After buying wind energy from others for several years, Spokane-based Avista Corp. announced it will build its own wind turbines in Lincoln County to generate electricity by the end of 2011.

The $120 million project five miles south of Reardan will be a first for Avista, which serves 352,000 electric customers in Eastern Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana.

Avista Utilities wholesale power manager Steve Silkworth says the Lincoln County wind turbines will have the capacity to produce 50 megawatts of power, enough for 37,500 homes.

Avista spokesman Hugh Imhof says the company estimates the wind farm will have 25 to 35 wind turbines, and the compny is looking at other possible sites.

Silkworth says the 32-hundred-acre site near Reardan was chosen because it is within the company's service area and transmission lines are nearby, eliminating the expense of building new lines or paying other utilities for transmission lines.