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small wind Success StoriesOwner Testimonials
With three teenagers living at home in the high desert, and two electric pumps to provide well water for household use and landscape maintenance, my electricity consumption is well above average. I use roughly 1,700 kilowatt hours per month, which is more than twice as much as the average California home. Because I work for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, I am familiar with the ins and outs of the power business. I began to become concerned about my electricity bills a little less than two years ago. Under California's failed deregulated market, wholesale electricity prices began to go up and availability of electricity seemed to be going down. I started looking into alternative energy sources. After doing some homework, I concluded that a small wind turbine would be more economical than solar photovoltaics. Generally speaking, small wind turbines are about half of the cost of solar panels. But then my education process began. I soon discovered that Los Angeles County happens to be one of the more difficult counties in the state to install small wind turbines. Until recently, the same kind of conditional use permit needed to permit the construction of an 100 ft cell phone tower was needed for a small wind turbine at a cost of up to $6000. This process entails 6 to 9 months of public hearings and no guarantee of a permit! My specific problem was LA county's 35-foot height restriction. Concerned that I would not be able to get a variance or conditional use permit to exceed this height, I opted to install three Southwest Windpower Whisper 3000s on 30-foot towers. One small wind turbine on a taller tower could have produced as much as two or three turbines on shorter towers. But permitting a tower as high as 80 or 100 feet, the best heights for small wind turbines, would have been more difficult--if not impossible--to permit in the community of Acton. Since then, a new state law has been passed requiring counties to ease these height restrictions that date back to times when fire department pumpers could not pump water higher than a 35 ft. tall building. Hopefully, other residents of Los Angeles County will have an easier time gaining access to better wind fuel. I was initially told by a county official that there would be no problem permitting the three windmills provided they were under 35 feet in height. This, unfortunately, was not the case. Because I was installing more than one windmill, I had to go to the L.A. County Regional Planning Commission. They thought my three windmills totaling less than 10 kilowatts meant I was putting in a commercial wind farm and planning to sell power! I had to educate them about the California Energy Commissions buy-down program, which covers up to half of the installation costs, and about net metering, which allows me to send back to the grid any electricity I didn't need at my residence. There is a perception among the public, as well as county officials, that all wind generators are huge machines the size of a diesel tractor trailer rig, with a 200 ft propeller, creating lots of noise, macerating birds, and terrifying wildlife. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rabbits, coyotes, and ravens seem to congregate beneath my "Whisper" wind turbines, generally unfazed by their presence. With the help of my two sons, we installed the three small wind turbines, control house and electronics in 6 months. By the time I was finished installing them, they ended up costing a bit more than I thought it would. Nevertheless, I did get an $18,600 rebate from the state. I was also eligible for a state tax credit. Because of SCE's high electricity rates, I should be able to recoup my initial investment of roughly $20,000 within 7 years. I will then enjoy "free" electricity for the remainder of the system's 30-year life. With these figures in mind, a small wind turbine represents a low-risk, tax-free investment. My investment in my own renewable energy system nets an equivalent of a 30 percent return on a taxable investment. Since I live in rural northern Los Angeles County, I am a customer of Southern California Edison (SCE). I opted to get a monthly bill from SCE under my net metering arrangement. If I consume more electricity than I generate in a month, Since my three turbines went into operation at the beginning of March, I've seen my power bills drop by more than half. I'm not in the best wind regime, and my short towers limit my power production. Even with these limitations, however, I estimate I could save as much as $2,400 per year on electricity costs from a source of power that is pollution-free. Now that's a deal. Click Here for more information
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