U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for October 19 -- WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau: Profile America - Saturday, October 19th. Throughout the decades since the oil embargo of 1973, increasing research and development has gone into renewable sources of energy. One of the results is seen atop windswept hills across America - large electricity generating windmills. While the concept sounds very modern, the first practical wind turbine generator goes back 72 years. It was on this date in 1941 that Palmer Putnam of Vermont demonstrated his device. His wind turbine had blades 66 feet in length, and over nearly 700 hours of operation, produced almost 300,000 kilowatt hours. Reflecting the increasing cost of fossil fuel for electrical generation, the average residential bill has risen from $879 a year in 2000 to $1,335. Sources: Kane 3557 http://www.todaysengineer.org/2013/May/history.asp http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/12statab/energy.pdf t.