The wind stopped in Sherman County on February 1. An 11-story blade, weighing eight tonnes, tore free from Biglow Canyon wind farm's turbine 71 and plunged into a wheat field, slicing a four-foot-deep trench through the crop stubble. Portland General Electric (PGE) immediately grounded all 217 turbines at the site. The site is scattered with heavy mounting bolts, a stark reminder of the structural failure that followed a delivery driver's discovery of broken bolts at the base just days earlier.
This is not a dormant plot of land. It is Kevin and Kathryn McCullough's working wheat farm. Thirteen of these massive industrial turbines stand directly on their property, a setup that has generated $100,000 annually in lease payments for the family. "We were ecstatic," Kathryn McCullough told The Oregonian/OregonLive about the initial arrival of the turbines. But the financial stability comes with a physical proximity that the February 1 incident made terrifyingly clear. "Someone could have been killed or badly injured," she warned, highlighting the danger to farm workers operating combines and planting equipment right up to the concrete bases of the towers.
PGE opened the Biglow Canyon facility 15 years ago to boost Oregon's renewable energy grid. Unlike solar farms that clear entire valleys, wind projects allow for dual land use; the concrete pads and access roads occupy a fraction of the total acreage. For dryland wheat farmers in the Columbia River Gorge, this arrangement is a financial lifeline, buffering them against volatile crop prices and unpredictable weather. The predictable turbine income, combined with millions in local tax revenue that funds rural schools and roads, has kept many of these agricultural operations viable for generations.
The shutdown is temporary, but the scrutiny is not. PGE engineers are currently conducting full inspections and stress-testing the bolts on every remaining turbine before operations resume. For the McCulloughs, the question is no longer just about the $100,000 check. It is whether the safety protocols can keep pace with the aging infrastructure, and when they will be allowed to safely return to their fields beneath the spinning giants.