The Little Windmill That Could

Driving over the Hoan Bridge or walking the streets of Bay View, you may have noticed an interesting piece of infrastructure. A single wind turbine spins outside of Port Milwaukee’s headquarters at 2323 S. Lincoln Memorial Dr.

The turbine was installed in early 2012 as a pilot project by the city to provide electricity for the city’s two-story Port Milwaukee office building, with surplus electricity sold to We Energies. It’s $587,000 cost was covered almost entirely by a mix of grants, including 2009 federal stimulus program.

Last week the city celebrated a significant milestone, the turbine generated its one millionth kilowatt hour of electricity. The electricity, valued at approximately $131,000 based on We Energies’ base residential rate, has far exceeded the port office’s needs. The city has earned $53,000 selling excess power to We Energies...