TYNDALL -- Dozens of people turned out to learn how to establish the framework for a plan to establish wind power in South Dakota at the Tyndall Community Room Thursday.

State Sen. Frank Kloucek (D-District 19) was on hand to introduce the guest speakers, Richard Wiebe and Scott Parsley.

Wiebe, who represented Westwood C-Bed Biofuels Group of Minnesota, said South Dakota's wind power potential is "huge."

He said there is a number of things that interested landowners and investors need to do before getting involved in wind energy.

The first were to identify the level of interest, form a leadership committee and do a feasibility study.

"It will probably take a lot of meetings to discuss and lay out the framework of the plan," Wiebe said. "You have to go through all these steps to make the project bankable. You have to make sure it's going to work."

After the studies are performed, Wiebe said design and looking at potential sites can begin.

"You want the terrain you have here -- rolling hills with very few trees," he said.

Scott Parsley, assistant general manager of member services at East River Electric Power Cooperative, said the amount of time could vary before the investors would make their money back.

"It all depends on what you can get for the output," he said.

Wiebe said one thing to keep in mind is, "The wind doesn't blow 100 percent of the time. ... So the actual output of the turbine could be anywhere from 30 to 45 percent (of capacity)."

The placement of the wind farms can also be affected by its proximity to the habitats of endangered species or archeological sites.

Parsley said proximity to buildings must also be taken into account, not only for noise, but for the winter months, when ice can collect on and be flung from the blades.

The American Wind Energy Association is currently working to encourage manufacturers to invest in wind power by getting a long-term extension of the Wind Energy Production Tax Credit.

Under present law, an income tax credit of 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour, adjusted annually for inflation, is allowed for the production of electricity from qualified wind energy facilities and other sources of renewable energy. The credit was created under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 and applies to electricity produced at these facilities after Dec. 31, 1992, and before Jan. 1, 2009.

As a result, developers are rushing to complete their current projects so they fall within the deadline. The AWEA believes future developers may avoid getting involved in wind projects because they won't fall within it.

Proposed legislation outlining a five-year extension of the PTC could be passed before that has a chance to happen, however.

Kloucek, for one, hopes it will.

"Real economic benefits are there," he said, pointing to a number of states that have invested in wind power.

One example Kloucek gave was in Texas, where 1,000 megawatts worth of wind projects were added in 2001, providing $11.6 million in property tax payments to local schools, $2.5 million in landowner royalty income and 2,500 wind-related jobs.

Wiebe said the potential gains from using wind power aren't only economic.

"It's a non-polluting resource," he said. "You can argue there are some pollutants on the manufacturing side, but much less than other forms (of energy)."

Parsley said, "There's no emissions. It's taking something and making something out of it."

Kloucek added, "The amount of energy saved from pollutants, coal and imported foreign oil is huge."

According to the AWEA, to generate the same amount of electricity as today's United States wind turbines, which is 11,603 megawatts, approximately 16 million tons of coal or 50 million barrels of oil would have to be burned each year.

Another plus, Wiebe said, is that it is renewable, unlike some other fuels.

"My daughter's studying in school, and I think the forecast is we're going to run out of fossil fuels in her lifetime," Wiebe said.

Something will have to be done so this doesn't happen, he said. "Wind is not the only answer -- it's only part of the answer."