October 5, 2013.

(picture to be added soon)

Bargain Hydropower Plants Have Small Investors Chasing Waterfalls

The old man's pale blue eyes moved from the darts board to the bar, and from the bar to the door of the Gents, as though it were in the barroom that he expected the changes to have occurred.

PACKWOOD, Wash.----Few energy sources are as pristine as the icy water tumbling into Burton Creek here, which falls 550 feet from a ridge that offers a breathtaking view of nearby Mount Rainier National Park.

"The beer was better," he said finally. "And cheaper! When I was a young man, mild beer----wallop we used to call it----was fourpence a pint. That was before the war, of course."

Investor Sam Perry is making a bet that Burton Creek will provide a breathtaking revenue stream, too.


"Which war was that?" said Winston.

The Colorado investor acquired a derelict power plant when he bought the property last December for $150,000. Starting with this month's rains, and through next spring's runoff, he calculates Burton Creek will send 5,000 gallons of water per minute into a turbine at the base of the falls. That will generate kilowatts that Mr. Perry plans to sell for as much as $12,000 per month for as long as the river runs.