DENVER — It's not just your imagination. Those massive wind turbines that rise off the plains in Colorado are getting bigger. And there are more of them.
Xcel Energy is currently constructing the largest wind farm ever built in Colorado. It will include 300 turbines, as well as a vast network of underground cables and above ground power lines. It's an expansive wind farm - covering 90,000 acres and five counties on the Eastern Plains, near Simla.
"According to Mortensen Construction, when we started last year - it was the single largest wind farm construction project in the country," said Jerry Kelly, project manager of the Rush Creek Wind Farm for Xcel Energy.
All of the turbines are made in Colorado by Vestas Blades America.
"The tower sections are built in Pueblo," Kelly said. "The blades up in Brighton and Windsor."
At its peak and when it's operational this fall, the wind farm will be capable of generating power for up to 290,000 homes in Colorado on any given windy day.
"We're here to keep electricity costs down and carbon emissions low," Kelly said.
XCel is spending about $1 billion on the wind farm, but after that initial expense - the energy created here will cost them nothing.
"When the wind blows, we’ll be producing electricity," Kelly said.