Wind power works like a charm for General Mills

We heard news yesterday that has us after a bowl of Lucky Charms.

General Mills, a Fortune 500 company and American multinational maker of many well-known brands, such as Annie’s, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Old El Paso, Cheerios and Lucky Charms, signed a 15-year contract for 100 megawatts of Texas wind power capacity. The company’s wind power purchase will help fund the construction of Renewable Energy System’s Cactus Flats wind farm in Concho County, near the heart of Texas.

And there’s no luck involved – wind power purchases like these are made for concrete economic and environmental reasons.

General Mills will get reliable, clean electricity and stable prices from the wind farm, and Concho County in turn will see the company’s investment translate into approximately 250 American jobs during construction. Counties that host wind farms see lasting benefits – well-paying careers and new revenue for farmers, ranchers, and the community as a whole.

Leading companies like General Motors, Microsoft, Walmart, and many more are adding fuel to America’s rural economic engine by purchasing wind power from heartland states. By growing the market for wind power, these companies helped the American wind industry add jobs nine times faster than the overall U.S. economy during 2016.

Demand from corporate buyers, utilities, American cities, universities and even the U.S. Army will help maintain wind power’s momentum into the future. That makes this bowl of cereal a little sweeter.