Unlike an electric utility though, the wind companies are paid only for the electricity they generate. Southern California ratepayers assume none of the risk for installing, operating, or maintening the turbines. The industry employs nearly 400 full time in a variety of occupations. The Tehachapi Pass is one of the windiest areas in the world. The winds through the pass average 14 to 20 miles per hour from one year to the next.
Wind speeds vary with the terrain, season, and time of the day.
Wind turbines have also been installed in the San Gorgonio Pass southeast of Los Angeles, and in the Altamont Pass east of San Francisco. The wind turbines in the scenic Tehachapi Mountains rank among the world's major engineering achievements, rivaling in scale for example, France's famous La Rance tidal power plant. There are more than a dozen different kinds of wind turbines operating in California today. They are now phased out in favor of horizontal axis turbines. They turn themselves on when conditions are right, and they turn themselves off when the winds are too strong, or when they sense a problem.