"Windmills are icons of the Coachella Valley and its longtime leadership in renewable energy.

Visit the website of Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez and you'll see a photo of windmills stretching into the San Gorgonio Pass west of Palm Springs. For some, especially those who live in the shadow of the behemoths, they're not so attractive. But visitors see them as a familiar welcoming sign.

Scott White, president of the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority, said, “A lot of different people say that when they finally see the windmills, that's when they've left L.A. and they've arrived in Palm Springs.”

However, if the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians installs two Vestas V90s at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Highway 111 as planned, they would have a much more striking visual impact. These windmills are 451 feet tall, higher than the Morongo Casino Hotel Spa, the tallest building in the Inland Empire. Some V90s tower above Whitewater Hill to the north, but they're far enough away from the freeway that they don't appear so imposing."

Get the Story:
Windmills an icon of valley goals for renewable energy (The Palm Springs Desert Sun 6/3)

Related Stories:
Agua Caliente Band announces plan to erect wind turbines (5/27)