Wind Capital Group was a wind power developer founded in 2005 by Missouri native Tom Carnahan.Wind Capital Group timeline
/ref>

Developed wind farms

Blue Grass Ridge Wind Farm

On January 31, 2006, Wind Capital Group announced the planned construction of Blue Grass Ridge Wind Farm near King City in Gentry County, Missouri. Construction of the 27

Suzlon Suzlon Energy is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational wind turbine manufacturer headquartered in Pune. History Tulsi Tanti was a Gujarati people, Gujarati businessman managing a small textile company. Due to the erratic availa ...

wind turbines began in late 2006 and completed in 2007. Financing was provided by

John Deere Deere & Company, Trade name, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, Transmission (mechanical device), transmi ...

. Blue Grass Ridge is the first commercial scale wind farm in Missouri. The wind energy produced is purchased by Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.North American Wind Power
/ref>

Conception Wind Farm

In early 2008 the Conception Wind Farm was completed. Conception is near Conception Junction in Nodaway County, Missouri. Like Blue Grass Ridge before it, Conception was constructed with Suzlon turbines, financed by John Deere, and the power is sold to Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Cow Branch Wind Energy Center

Also in 2008, the Cow Branch Wind Energy Center began operations. Cow Branch is near Tarkio in Atchison County, Missouri. This wind farm was also constructed with Suzlon turbines, financed by John Deere, and sells power to Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Loess Hills Wind Farm

The Loess Hills Wind Farm was completed in the spring of 2008. This wind farm is much smaller than Wind Capital Group's three other operating wind farms in northwest Missouri. Nevertheless, Loess Hills garnered national and international attention because it produces more power for the town of Rock Port than the town and its residents use.National Public Radio article
/ref> Therefore, Rock Port has been called the first 100% wind powered town in America. The Loess Hills Wind Farm has been featured on National Public Radio, CNN, ABC World News Tonight, and the International Herald Tribune.
/ref>ABC World News Tonight story
/ref>International Herald Tribune article
/ref>

Lost Creek Ridge Wind Farm

In April 2009, Wind Capital Group announced that the Lost Creek Wind Farm was to be built south of the Blue Grass Ridge Wind Farm in DeKalb County, Missouri. Vice President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

and Commerce Secretary

Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat from the State of Washington. Locke served as the 21st governor of Washington from 1997 to 2005, where he was the first Chinese-American governor ...

were on hand at the announcement in Jefferson City, Missouri. Lost Creek Ridge will have a 150 megawatt nameplate capacity.Irish Times article
/ref> The project received $107 million in

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a Stimulus (economics), stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed ...

funds. The project became a campaign issue in the United States Senate election in Missouri, 2010 when

Roy Blunt Roy Dean Blunt (born January 10, 1950) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he pre ...

charged that Tom Carnahan through his sister Robin Carnahan had used family connections to get the funds. The Carnahans deny their family connections played a role in the federal renewable energy grant. Lost Creek was put up for sale in 2014, along with the Post Rock wind farm, and eventually sold to Pattern Energy.

Buffalo Creek Wind Farm

In December 2007 Wind Capital Group announced the sale of the Buffalo Creek Wind Farm near the town of Latimer in Franklin County, Iowa. The construction ready site was purchased by Interstate Power and Light, with the first 100 megawatts planned to be constructed by 2010.Alternative Energy Press article
/ref>

Bent Tree Wind Farm

In March 2009 Wind Capital Group announced the sale of their second wind farm outside of Missouri. At 400 megawatts, Bent Tree is Wind Capital Group's largest developed wind farm to date. Wisconsin Power and Light Company purchased the wind farm and intends to begin construction on the first 200 megawatts in mid-2009.Finance and Commerce article
/ref> Bent Tree is located near Hartland in

Freeborn County, Minnesota Freeborn County is a county in the state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,895. Its county seat is Albert Lea. Freeborn County comprises the Albert Lea Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Freeborn County was crea ...

Post Rock Wind Farm

The Post Rock Wind Farm is a 201 megawatt in Ellsworth and Lincoln counties of Kansas. Operation in 2012, selling all of its electricity to

Westar Energy Evergy, Inc. is an American investor-owned utility (IOU) with publicly traded stock with headquarters in Topeka, Kansas, and in Kansas City, Missouri. The company was formed from a merger of Westar Energy of Topeka and Great Plains Energy of K ...

under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The windfarm was financed by

GE Capital GE Capital was the financial services division of General Electric. Its various units were sold between 2013 and 2021, including the notable spin-off of the North American consumer finance division as Synchrony Financial. Ultimately, only one div ...

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, w ...

, and Union Bank and uses 134 GE turbines. Post Rock was put up for sale in 2014, along with the Lost Creek wind farm, and eventually sold to Pattern Energy.

Partnership

In early 2008 Wind Capital Group formed a partnership with NTR plc. NTR invested $150 million into the company and also committed to supply Wind Capital Group with 150 megawatts of wind turbines. NTR was then the majority owner of the company.St. Louis Business Journal article
/ref> The relationship with NTR ended with Wind Capital selling the Post Rock and Lost Creek wind farms to Pattern Energy in 2015 for $244 million.

Status

In 2014 Wind Capital Group announced that would be winding down development operations as parent NTR focused on Europe.

References

External links

WebsiteAssociated Electric Cooperative, Inc.
{{Wind power in the United States Wind power companies of the United States Wind power in Missouri Organizations established in 2005 2005 establishments in Missouri