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small wind Success StoriesCase Studies Wind Prevails Against Opponents at Massachusetts Horse Farm Dover, MA – Robert Loebelenz had to persevere for two years to overcome neighborhood opposition to his wind turbine. Now that it’s up, he hopes his Southwest Windpower Whisper 175 will help dispel the anti-wind sentiments that dogged his installation. “If nothing else – after all the cussing and swearing – this small wind turbine will help educate people,” Loebelenz says. “Just the other day, a prominent lady about town – a long-time Doverite who lives just up the street -- called to tell me she really enjoyed watching my wind turbine from her bathroom window.” In 2000, Loebelenz put in a 4.8 kW solar photovoltaic system at his Lion Spring Farm in Dover, Massachusetts that also encountered resistance from local permitting authorities. But the structural engineering analysis required for his solar system was nothing compared to what he had to do to get his small wind turbine installed a year later. “The local building inspector would keep telling me I need this, I need that. By the time I got together all of the paperwork, a year had gone by,” says Loebelenz. He says neighbors were stirred up by a national anti-wind power campaign that apparently was supported by individuals with ties to the coal lobby. They succeeded in forcing his project before the Town Zoning Board of Appeals. “I was all set to raise a customized monopile tower on a warm and sunny December day when the building inspector showed up at my property with a stop work order,” he recalls. Loebelenz prevailed, but not before another year had passed. Loebelenz was fortunate that another local resident installed a homemade small wind turbine a few years earlier which apparently compelled local officials to recognize wind turbines in its permitting rules. This pioneering initiative helped clear the way for construction of Loebelenz’s 65-foot tower. Loebelenz calculates that the majority of the electricity he and his wife use at home and in her horse breeding business comes from the sun and wind. The wind turbine has not been the big producer because it wasn’t optimally placed, Loebelenz says, but it helps fill in gaps and cover the inefficiencies of the solar array. Loebelenz doesn’t understand why some people are so opposed to wind power. “People don’t realize that two of the utilities that own power plants around here are almost bankrupt, the owners of the Pilgrim nuclear reactor are seeking a 20-year extension on their operating license, and the majority of our power consumed around here is generated at fossil fuel power plants. From where are we going to get our power if we don’t tap renewable energy?” he asked.
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