Demand for windmill skills cranks up

LAS CRUCES (KRQE) - With windmill sales and interest in alternative energy rising New Mexico State University will host its annual certification workshop as it has for more than three decades.

New Mexico State University will hold its annual windmill technology certification

The workshop will be held June 3-5 at NMSU's Windpower Technology Center, located behind the Alumni Center on College Avenue at the main campus in Las Cruces.

"So much of the West was settled around water, but even today, where you have water you don't always have electricity to extract it," said Craig Runyan, an Extension water specialist for NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service.

Windmill sales have jumped substantially over the past several years due to the needs of ranchers, an increased interest in alternative energy and consumers wanting the overall aesthetic look windmills create, he added.

The workshop will provide training in windmill applications, wellhead protection, assembly, maintenance and repair of conventional windmill equipment. There will also be a complete motor and tower installation field exercise.

Workshop instructors include Runyan; James Dean, NMSU professor emeritus; Carlos Rosencrans, NMSU associate professor; and Lee Koll, a windmill repair and well drilling specialist from Fort Sumner.

The course costs $200 and is limited to 25 participants. A nonrefundable $100 deposit reserves seating. For more registration information, contact Rosencrans at (575) 646-1130 or by e-mail .

This workshop is sponsored in part by Aermotor Windmills, Inc. of San Angelo, Texas, and by the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Southern Regional Water Program Agreement.