Amazon Wind Farm Texas is an array of 300-foot-tall, white turbines that dot the landscape just outside the West Texas town of Snyder. There are more than 100 turbines and their scale is enormous. When the blades are spinning, they cover an area nearly equal to two football fields.
Growing up here in West Texas, wind is something that you cussed, not something that you considered an asset to our community.
Judge Ricky Fritz
Amazon Wind Farm Texas was built and is owned and operated by Lincoln Clean Energy, a leading developer of wind and solar projects across the United States.
"Investing in renewable energy is a win-win-win-win – it's right for our customers, our communities, our business, and our planet," said Kara Hurst, Amazon's Worldwide Director of Sustainability. "We now have 18 wind and solar projects across the U.S. with more than 35 projects to come. These are important steps toward reaching our long-term goal to power our global infrastructure using 100% renewable energy. "
Officials in Snyder, Texas say the investment has already given their community a boost, since the wind farm pays out cash directly to landowners, schools, and the community-at-large for the use of local property. And tax revenue has increased 200 percent in the county, thanks to the massive investment.
"The wind energy and those turbines have directly affected our bottom line positively and helped stabilize us in a tough economic time the last several years," said Scurry County Judge Ricky Fritz.
Judge Fritz said the community has undergone a massive shift. Traditionally, residents made money off of what was underground, namely oil. But prices are constantly fluctuating, making revenue difficult to rely on. They also make money from the land itself, through ranching. Today, they're profiting from what's just above that same land – the wind.
"Growing up here in West Texas, wind is something that you cussed, not something that you considered an asset to our community. So now, with the wind energy here, we've taken something that was an irritant and made it a source of income for our communities," said Fritz.
Amazon has launched 18 wind and solar projects across the U.S., with over 35 more to come. Together, Amazon's projects will generate enough clean energy to power more than 330,000 homes a year.
