AUBURN – A wind gauge measuring breezes coming off Lake Auburn went up Wednesday.

“We’re trying to see if this will be a good place for a wind turbine,” said John Storer, assistant water district superintendent. “I’m hoping it is, but we’ve been out here all morning and haven’t had so much as a breeze.”

The gauge, called an anemometer, will test the wind along Lake Auburn’s western shore to see if it can be used to generate electricity. It was placed atop a pole along the lake shore and behind the pump station buildings, just north of Central Maine Community College.

The gauge is being loaned by the Maine Public Utilities Commission. A second state wind gauge is being loaned to Portland’s school district for a similar test.

The Auburn test will be managed by the University of Maine. Students from the university will install the wind gauge on a 100-foot tower and monitor it, studying wind patterns along the lake for the next year. They should issue a report in 2009 on whether putting a power-generating turbine there makes sense.

Good sites for generating wind energy typically have average wind speeds of about 13 mph.

The study is also looking for sites that have a high demand for electricity. A computer model shows annual average winds are faster than 13 mph along Lake Auburn. The district’s nearby water pump station has a built-in electrical system that can handle 500 kilowatts on site without needing additional work. The district budgets for more than 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, about $100,000 a year.