$4M allocated to restore college's turbine

TUCUMCARI - Mesalands Community College's iconic but idle wind turbine might generate power soon after U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico secured $4 million to repower it.

The college received the funds as part of fiscal-year 2026 federal appropriations recently signed into law, a news release from the college stated last week.

The college's turbine went idle about 2 1/2 years ago, vexing in-house efforts - including by certified wind technicians - to repair it. An image of the turbine appears in many of Mesalands' logos and advertisements.

Mesalands President Allen Moss stated in an email the total cost to repower the turbine was estimated at between $5 million and $5.5 million last summer.

"This is a huge step to accomplishing this project," he wrote. "We placed this on our capital outlay request with (Higher Education Department) this past summer for $6 million. Now that we have the federal funding, we will again make the request for remaining funds from HED. We believe there is strong support from the state, HED and our local legislator to see this project through."

Full funding would allow Mesalands to modernize and repower its wind turbine - a training asset for students in its wind energy technology program - while expanding hands-on learning opportunities aligned with industry standards.

The repowered turbine would function as a real-world training laboratory, ensuring that students gain experience on modernized systems comparable to those used in active wind farms.

"We are grateful to Sen. Heinrich and his office for recognizing the importance of rural colleges in preparing the next generation of skilled energy technicians," Moss stated in a news release.

One of Mesalands' partners, Impact Wind, would also use the turbine for training.

"Our industry partners benefit directly from graduates who are trained on up-to-date equipment and prepared to step into the field with confidence," said Joel Kiser, the college's vice president of academic affairs.

"The turbine repower allows us to better align instruction with employer needs, reduce onboarding time, and provide a consistent pipeline of skilled technicians ready to support New Mexico's growing wind energy sector."

Moss stated that the repowered turbine would generate 2.5 megawatts of power, compared to 1.5 megawatts previously.

"That would be sufficient to power the campus and then some," he wrote. "However, more likely it will feed into the Xcel grid and then follow the lines (meters) currently set up on campus. But it could potentially produce almost twice what the current turbine was capable of producing."

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