Blade Yard

Our “Blade Yard” is a wind turbine graveyard honoring the legacy and evolution of wind turbines, many of which learned harsh lessons in the 1980s. Here, you will see several exhibits from the 1980s, as well as a large blade from 1997-1999.

Origins in the 1980s

What brought commercial windmills to California wasn’t a necessity or the result of supply and demand. They came because California’s investment tax credits for renewable energy development under Governor Jerry Brown added substantially to federal tax credits. Combined with the federal policy requiring utilities to purchase renewably produced energy, they created an attractive draw for investment in wind power. They triggered what we now call the “California Wind Rush,” drawing a parallel to the California Gold Rush and the fortune-seekers of the 1850s.

The Wind Rush took time to gain momentum. In 1981, Fayette Manufacturing developed the first commercial wind farm in the Altamont Pass in northern California. It was joined quickly by U.S. Windpower, which had installed the first wind farm in the United States in New Hampshire before relocating to the Altamont Pass. In 1982, more wind farms followed in the Altamont and Tehachapi Passes, with the San Gorgonio Pass (Palm Springs) lagging far behind until the following year.

According to the California Energy Commission, developers installed nearly 8,500 wind turbines throughout California by 1984, with almost 6,000 more appearing by 1987. Around half of all the wind machines stood in the Altamont, with the balance split between San Gorgonio and Tehachapi. However, political winds were changing. The tax credits in California expired in 1985 after fossil fuel costs fell precipitously, effectively ending the Wind Rush.

Summary of the 1980s

Installing over 14,000 wind turbines statewide, including 4,200 in the San Gorgonio Pass, was remarkable. Perhaps more mind-boggling is that California was home to more than 95% of all wind turbines installed worldwide. California was effectively the world’s market for wind power during this period. However, there were tragic backstories. Many designs failed, along with the companies that produced them and the developers that optimistically installed them.

Other designs survived the decade, with the most successful from Denmark. They generally shared a three-blade upwind design that many described as bulky or brutish compared to other, more elegant but fragile wind turbines. Many remained in operation for over forty years, with a few still operating today on Whitewater Hill west of Highway 62 and north of Interstate 10. Often referred to as the Danish Design, these surviving 1980-era devices are the ancestors of today’s large modern wind turbines.