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small wind Success StoriesCustomer Interviews
Scotts Valley, CA – Larry Gilliam and his wife “got interested in the whole idea of wind power” while visiting Palm Springs. “We took a tour of one of the small wind farms in San Gorgonio Pass,” explains Gilliam. “The big thing on my mind [for a residential system] was reliability.” After reading about the California Energy Commission’s 50% rebates, Gilliam contacted a dealer. He decided on a 10 kW turbine. Height restrictions were an early obstacle to permitting, but with the help of the county supervisor, Gilliam was able to permit his 80-foot tower through a special wind zoning ordinance Gilliam says was “left over from the last energy crisis.” That ordinance, in fact, stipulated minimum rather than maximum tower heights to make sure small wind turbines generated substantial amounts of electricity. Gilliam was able to obtain a building permit for his 80-foot self-supporting lattice tower, the first of its kind in Santa Cruz County. Gilliam hired a contractor to pour the foundation. Gilliam and his son put the tower together on the ground. In September 2001 they brought a wind contractor to help erect the tower, using a crane. The electrical connections were completed by the end of September, and PG&E signed off on the interconnection and the net metering agreement shortly thereafter. Still, Gilliam’s enthusiasm for wind turbines is not diminished. His turbine cut his monthly electric bill from $120 to about $80, and he’s confident that the turbine
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