The latest thing to dot North St. Paul's bare skyline might be an 80-foot pole with three 35-foot blades.

Next month, city leaders will consider approving a permit to erect a wind turbine - across the street from homes and City Hall. If all goes well, it could be installed by summer's end, said Wally Wysopal, North St. Paul manager.

The turbine would likely join a 44-foot-high snowman as one of the suburban community's landmarks.

North St. Paul is one of 11 communities that compose the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency. The cooperative is investing in wind energy to meet a state mandate to energy producers to provide 25 percent of output from renewable sources by 2025. It's at 17 percent now. To meet the goal, the cooperative is erecting turbines in its member cities and developing a wind farm project in southern Minnesota.

"We're just doing what we need to do to help with the energy-conservation issues," Wysopal said. "We're just really pleased that we have our own electric utility and we're able to do this."

Another cooperative member, Anoka, will look at plans for a turbine in June.

The North St. Paul plan has gotten a mixed reception.

It's a boondoggle, said resident John Schmahl, who also criticized efforts to build a fiber-optic network in North St. Paul.

"If it was worthwhile, then why not?" said Schmahl, who questions the effectiveness of one turbine. "But I don't see it as that. I see it as a show-and-tell."

He and others worry about a bigger electric bill.

Loren Nielsen, a lifelong North St. Paul resident, thinks a wind turbine might be a good, progressive move on the city's part - as long as it doesn't hurt his wallet.

The cooperative will own and operate turbines in member cities. Each costs about $300,000, including installation, said Dave Boyles, project manager for Avant Energy, a company that manages the MMPA.

Consumers' electric rates won't go up because of the project, Boyles said. The turbines will be paid for with federal clean renewable energy bonds.

At maximum capacity, one turbine produces enough energy to power about 110 homes. The North St. Paul turbine is expected to reach maximum capacity about 25 percent of the time, Boyles said.

City leaders propose to place it behind the public utilities building on First Street. The turbine would be similar in height to the city's water tower, Wysopal said.

Other turbines are likely in the metro. The South Washington County school district has been considering one to power its new high school in Woodbury. The Mahtomedi school district has proposed one to enhance its curriculum. A turbine was recently erected in Maple Grove.

When Great River Energy planned a 160-foot-high turbine at its headquarters, neighboring businesses showed resistance, said Maple Grove Administrator Al Madsen. Business owners initially questioned whether the spot, near shops and restaurants, was the right location for a turbine, Madsen said.

But there was support, too, from residents who liked the idea of wind energy.

"We keep getting faced with energy issues, and unfortunately too many times elected officials tend to drag their feet on energy-related items," Madsen said. "The time has come to get these things done."