Illinois' first significant wind farm didn't start up until 2003 in Lee County. Today, the state has an installed wind energy capacity of 1,121 megawatts.

"We've come quite a long way in a short period of time," said Kevin Borgia, executive director of the Illinois Wind Energy Association, a trade group representing wind industry engineers and manufacturers statewide.

Illinois has four main pillars that give it strength in the area of wind generation, Borgia said:

First, it has huge areas of electric load, especially in St. Louis and Chicago, with nearby farmland suitable for the installation of wind turbines.

Second, it has strong electric transmission lines and facilities from existing coal and nuclear power plants that can easily be hooked into wind farms.

Third, it has decent winds. Not as strong as other high-producing wind states, like Texas and Iowa, Borgia said, but newer turbine technology can generate power from weaker winds.

Fourth, it has legislative backing. In 2007, Illinois lawmakers passed a renewable energy portfolio standard, mandating by 2025, 25 percent of all energy production will come from renewable resources.

Southern Illinois has at least one major study currently being conducted to determine the feasibility of setting up one or two wind turbines on the campus of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Phil Gatton, director of plant and service operations at SIUC, said the school is in the middle of a $55,000 study by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to examine options.

"Our data collection is done," Gatton said, noting the work encompassed study of a variety of factors, including environmental impact, transmission of power and even potential disruptions to aviation flight paths.

SIUC has about six more months to wait on the results of phase one of the study. In the meantime, Gatton said, the university is starting to solicit potential partners for financing the turbines, each anticipated to be about 400 feet tall.

If built, the wind turbines would sit on the southwest side of campus, near McLafferty Annex and University Farms.

Significant wind energy generation in Southern Illinois below Interstate 70 is questionable at this point given the current technology, Borgia said. Average wind speeds need to be around 15 miles per hour, minimum, to generate enough power.

That doesn't preclude the region from making investments to attract wind turbine and other component manufacturers to help build up jobs in a green economy.

"Companies are out there trying to invest in many parts of the United States. While Southern Illinois has the potential, it depends � on how proactive a lot of these communities want to be," Borgia said.

Existing manufacturing facilities have been retooled to build turbine parts in other places, and IDCEO and money put into the federal stimulus bill offers funding to people in the private sector interested in investing in wind power.

"We'll definitely see more of that going forward," Borgia said. "The fate remains in the hands of local officials and the state in a lot of ways, as well as the private sector."

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

618-351-5090