You've heard of "black gold", but what about "green gold"?
One Louisiana company believes they've found just that after striking up a deal with St. Mary Parish to bring wind turbines to the state.
The first phase of the approved $40 million project would bring 8 wind turbines to a plantation right outside of the Port of St. Mary.
The structures are as tell as a 48 story tall building.
In total, the turbines will bring 94,000 megawatts of power to the parish.
The land you see behind me may look empty, but not to Southern States Renewable Energy and St. Mary Parish. They see it as looking something like this...they're hoping to install wind turbines on the land to power both local homes, and the local economy.
The wind farm project aims to bring cleaner, longer lasting energy to the state, and the entire southeast region, for the first time.
"They realize not only is St. Mary Parish great for oil and gas, but now we have a renewable energy source", says Southern States Renewable Energy CEO Bill Gallardo."
The wind farm will generate 40 temporary construction jobs, and also generate enough energy to power an estimated 6,000 homes, and with the possibility of attracting more residents, comes the possibility of attracting more businesses.
"The more business you bring here, the more labor you can attract, the more housing you can attract, and we're going to be looking to the future to have a very vibrant parish", says Frank Fink, St. Mary Parish's Director of Economic Development.
According to Southern States Renewable Energy, St. Mary Parish has some of the most sustainable winds in the state, which the company hopes will sustain their business model for a very long time.
"We expect this model that we are creating here to be duplicated in other places. It would be a very positive thing for the entire country and for the economy wherever these things are located", says John Treen, Southern States Renewable Energy President.