The gusty wind was drying the season’s first hay crop near the old coal drag line at the Decker farm in Garrett, PA on a Saturday in May. What made the day different from all the other windy Saturdays in the three-generation history of the Decker farm was that on this day, the wind was also making electricity.

An estimated 1,500 Green Mountain Energy customers, friends, environmental leaders, community representatives, and government officials joined GreenMountain.com, National Wind Power, and Nordex to officially dedicate the eight giant wind turbines recently installed on the property, to be known as the Green Mountain Wind Farm.

The festivities included live music, games, giveaways, free snacks, drinks, and barbecue for the estimated 1,500 attendees. A “BioG3000” biodiesel generator from Griffin Industries of Cold Springs, Kentucky provided power for the music stage and speaker platform.

Keynote speaker Dan Reicher, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, was on hand to witness the dedication personally. “Today we are celebrating a new opportunity for Pennsylvania and throughout rural America” said Reicher. “With the development of this wind farm, Pennsylvanians will be harvesting a new crop for the 21st Century. We are looking forward to many additional wind projects in Pennsylvania in the next few years to meet consumer demand for renewable energy and the need for economic development in rural areas.”

The Green Mountain Wind Farm is owned and operated by National Wind Power, the UK’s leading wind power developer. The giant turbines, towers, and blades were manufactured by Nordex GmbH in Denmark.

The Green Mountain Wind Farm is the largest wind farm built to date in Pennsylvania. The farm is on private farm land, once used for coal strip mining in Summit Township and Garrett.

The Green Mountain Wind Farm is a 10,400 kilowatt (kWh) project that can produce as much as 25 million kilowatt hours (kWh) each year, or enough to serve the average needs of approximately 2,500 Pennsylvania homes.

The wind farm has eight, 200 foot high wind turbines. Each tower is 187 feet high and each of the three blades is 95 feet long.

The turbines start to generate electricity automatically when the wind speed reaches 8 miles per hour. They achieve maximum output at around 38 miles per hour. They shut down in storm force winds that exceed 56 miles per hour.

Electricity produced by the wind turbines flows through underground cables to an existing substation located near the site, which is owned by Somerset Rural Electric Cooperative.

A permanent “Welcome Center” has been erected on a corner of the Decker farm that provides a convenient vantage point for viewing the wind turbines.

Directions: The Green Mountain Wind Farm turbines are visible along Route 219 between Meyersdale, and Garrett, PA.