That's good, residents say, because they can't count on the crops they have.

Prices for wheat are good now, but "that's not going to last," says Sandra Powers. Wind power "is another crop so to speak."

Two mammoth wind power farms are generating electricity near Bickleton, an unincorporated town in eastern Klickitat County. Two are under construction in Klickitat County and seven more have permits.

Residents are hanging a lot of hopes on wind in this area, where some families have farmed wheat for five generations. Most of the 90 residents in Bickleton either have turbines on their property or lease to companies considering development.

They envision more property tax revenue and more diners in the town's two local restaurants. If the hardware store hadn't closed two years ago, it would be making a killing. The 110 students in the Bickleton School District are dreaming of a new school, and others are excited over the possibility of reliable cellular phone service with one proposal envisioning the use of the turbines as transmission towers.

"The demographics of Bickleton are going to change with these wind towers," says Rick Palmer, school superintendent. He foresees new subdivisions for permanent employees choosing to live in his community.

Construction brings in hundreds of temporary workers for the wind farms. But currently, the two farms employ only a combined 20 or so full-time technicians. One lives in Bickleton. The rest commute from Goldendale or the Tri-Cities.

Palmer plans to ask voters to approve a bond sometime in the next two years for a new school with up to 40,000 square feet and an auditorium. Currently, the students use two buildings with a total of 16,000 square feet and an aging gymnasium that doubles as a performance hall and cafeteria.

Palmer is trying to capitalize on the county's boost in property values.

If all 11 currently permitted wind farms eventually come on line, it could mean a $1.3 billion increase in assessed value, says Van Vandenberg, Klickitat County assessor.

Compare that to $2.076 billion this year. That includes $160 million from Big Horn, a 133-turbine development less than five miles south of Bickleton. It was the first to start generating power in 2006, and this year will be the first to contribute taxes to county coffers. Big Horn alone will increase revenues from $25,000 to $73,000 this year for Klickitat County Fire District 2, a volunteer agency based in Bickleton.

Klickitat County planned all this, say economic development leaders. Early this decade, the county hired surveyors and engineers to zone areas that might attract wind power companies and perform many of the required environmental studies. They also directed developers to landowners who didn't mind the idea of wind turbines cluttering up their horizon.

Bickleton residents are the strongest supporters, says Dana Peck, project manager for Horizon Wind Energy, which has leased more than 100,000 acres for possible construction.

"Developers like environments where it's predictable," says Peck, the former Klickitat County economic development director.

Peck says Horizon is more than a year away from filing permits with the county. Meanwhile, PPM Energy, which owns Big Horn, held a community meeting last Friday to discuss another wind power development.

Those in town who are critical of wind power simply don't like the idea of change in a community that has seen little over the years, says Jennifer Wilson, owner of the Market Street Café and grocery store. She understands but believes wind power will shore up the community's eroding sense of stability.

Her family had farmed dryland wheat for five generations until three years ago, when she and her husband Greg entered it into the federal Conservation Reserve Program. Greg Wilson took a job with the county road department while she focused on her café.

The parents are encouraging their 18-year-old son, Jamison, either to attend college or learn a trade other than farming. So far, he's leaning toward heavy equipment operation, but he may try the wind power business someday, she says.

"I think this has been good," she says. "I think farming has changed enough that we needed to find something else to sustain our community."

* Ross Courtney can be reached at 930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com.