HEBER, AZ -- Residents in Navajo county got their first up-close look at the monstrous windmills standing over 300-feet tall near Heber on Monday.
"They're pretty big and they probably work really well," said third-grader Tamera Amos.
Officials cut the ribbon at the new facility Monday, celebrating Arizona's first commercial-scale wind power project at the dedication of the Dry Lake Wind Power Project.
The project brings a new source of renewable energy to the region and will supply 15,000 Salt River Project customers with power.
"It's good to have a new, clean energy source for our customers, but it's even better to have one based in Arizona," said SRP spokesperson Scott Harelson.
That's because the facility's 30 turbines have created much-needed jobs in the area.
"It's a shot in the arm for this area and we need the jobs," said Arizona Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick.
The site seemed to work out perfectly for both SRP and residents living in the area, near Heber and Holbrook.
"There are existing power lines in the area that we will use to transport energy to the generating station in St. John's," Harelson said.
Four years in the making, these windmills are only the beginning.
"We are in negotiations at this point to potentially double our capacity of wind from this particular facility," Harelson said.
