Officials with USDA Rural Development have announced Iowa’s USDA Director Bill Menner will be in Wiota Monday, March 19^th, to participate in a public tour of Wiota Wind Energy’s new 1.5-megawatt hour wind turbine. The turbine, which is located at 68752 Independence Road in Wiota, will be open for public tours from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Representatives will be on hand to talk about the project and answer any questions.

Wiota Wind Energy LLC was formed in 2011 and includes several private local investors. The organization’s first commercial sized community-owned wind turbine is expected to generate as many as 5,900-Megawatt hours of energy annually, with a design life of 20 to 25 years. A power purchase agreement has been made with the local power cooperative.

USDA Rural Development participated in the project by providing a $504,733 loan guarantee through its Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).