Several Fayette County landowners are considering establishing a bloc of land suitable for generating wind energy.

"We'd like to get between 8,000 and 10,000 acres in a single bloc and offer it to an energy company," said David Burrack of rural Arlington, coordinator of the effort.

Burrack and several associates held a meeting Wednesday night at Starmont High School attended by more than 50 area landowners.

"Right now we are just trying to see if enough landowners are interested," he said, adding that only 20 percent of proposed wind farms ever get built.

Burrack said he believes a corridor covering about 60 square miles between Arlington and Maynard would be favorable for the generation of wind energy.

The target area is generally north of 50th Street and south of 110th Street, west of E Avenue and east of Neon Road, also known as County Road W25, which runs through Maynard.

Burrack said a Chicago company, Invenergy, is operating test equipment in the area to determine whether the wind and terrain are suitable for a wind farm.

The project won't go forward unless the wind is suitable and landowners agree to make available a large contiguous bloc of land.

Burrack said another essential ingredient, available transmission lines, appears to be in place, but tests would have to be conducted to ensure they have sufficient capacity.

Wind farms are built in flat, open areas where wind speed averages at least 14 MPH.

Iowa has more than 600 wind turbines, producing enough electricity to power 140,000 homes, according to Alliant Energy.

Iowa is the nation's third largest producer of wind energy behind California and Texas, according to the Iowa Energy Center. Its topography and electric transmission grid make it a wind-energy-friendly environment.

The Department of Natural Resources considers Iowa the nation's 10th-windiest state. Forty percent of its surface area has the potential to produce wind energy, the DNR said.