KELO blips an AP report on the USDA-NASS 2009 On-Farm Energy Production Survey. This first-ever count of renewable energy use in agriculture finds a tiny percentage of South Dakota farms are installing wind turbines and solar panels and saving a bit on their energy bills.
For perspective on the following numbers, South Dakota has 31,500 farms.
Eleven South Dakota farms have installed a total of thirteen wind turbines. The average installation cost is over $19,000, nearly 50% higher than the national average of just under $13,000.
California has 81,500 farms, two and a half times our farm roster. Yet California has twelve times the number of farms with on-site wind power, leading the nation with 134 farms using 160 turbines.
Solar power systems are more popular and more affordable for South Dakota farmers. 55 farms have installed solar panels---45 use photovoltaic, 12 use thermal---with an average installation cost of $7,470.
Overall, South Dakota has 63 farms using of on-site renewable energy (55 + 11 = 63? Ah, some use both!). The average utility bill savings for those farms is $555, among the lowest savings in the nation. Across the country, 8,569 farms with on-site renewable energy (including manure digesters) save an average of $2,406 on their utility bills. In California, the average annual farm savings are $4,395; in New York, those savings top $5,000.
A big part of the savings difference probably lies in low electricity rates here on the plains. Another lies perhaps in the size of system: In South Dakota, the average PV solar system was rated at 696 watts. In California, the average system was rated at 11,229 watts, 16 times more powerful.
Combine cost of installation and low energy rates, and you get a slow return on investment. But note also that of those 555 South Dakota farms, only 1 reported having an energy audit by 2009. (My neighbor Shawn Miller is raising that number in his work for East River.) Reviewing energy use and working on conservation may do as much to reduce energy bills as producing one's own power. And as on-site energy production equipment gets better and as energy rates go up, the payback period from the combination of on-site renewable energy and conservation will only get shorter.
Quick pre-empt: only 13% of the renewable-energy-producing farms in this survey received federal funding. 11 of South Dakota's 55 did---20%.