Rick Callahan of the Associated Press has an article entitled Indiana’s 1st Commercial Wind Farm Online.

RAUB, Ind. — A nearly treeless stretch of northern Indiana that once produced only corn and soybeans is now dotted with 87 hulking wind turbines that harvest the region’s incessant breezes, generating enough power to light 43,000 homes.

The 130-megawatt Benton County Wind Farm – the state’s first commercial power station fueled by the wind – went online this month about 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis near the Illinois state line.

It’s the first of six that, combined, are expected to generate 3,000 megawatts. That’s about the total additional capacity Indiana needs to keep up with projected demand by 2012; though Duke Energy is not contractually obligated to use the Benton County generated power to supply Indiana needs. Indiana’s total consumption is about 113,000 gigawatts. So, it’s a pretty small fraction of the total pie. Still, it’s probably good to be developing the technology.