Wind energy may be making a comeback in McIntosh County and across southcentral North Dakota.

Lincoln Clean Energy, based in Chicago, recently erected a MET (short for meteorological) tower about five miles southwest of Wishek.

A MET tower is used at or near a potential project site to assess the wind resource.

"An operational wind farm would be 100 on a hypothetical 1-to-100 scale," said Patrick Dalseth, director of development for Lincoln Clean Energy, in a telephone interview.

"A MET tower is at the other end of the scale. It is a 1 — the very earliest stage possible."

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Dalseth said the 198-foot tower has an aluminum mast. Anemometers and other equipment are installed at various heights to measure wind speed, wind direction and similar data.