Wind now runs suburb's water plant

Northbrook is doing its part to make the air better to breathe by turning wind into water.

By signing an electricity contract last month the village became the first municipality in Illinois, and one of the first in the country, to purchase enough wind-generated energy to run an entire municipal utility, its water plant.

"There are others in the state that are thinking about it, but Northbrook is the first to jump on board," said Leslie McCain, a spokeswoman for Pennsylvania-based Community Energy Inc., which sells electricity produced by wind farms, including farms in north central Illinois.

Before entering the agreement, Northbrook had been buying 155 megawatt hours of electricity each year. On Sept. 1, that soared to 4,500 megawatt hours per year, enough to power a facility that annually pumps 2.2 billion gallons of water through the faucets and garden hoses of the village's 34,000 residents.

The contract, approved by the Village Board, is expected to add $4 to $5 to an average residential water bill each year, according to Northbrook officials.

"And it's equivalent to taking 738 cars off the road," said Village President Gene Marks.

Considered a "clean and green" form of alternative energy because it creates electricity with no combustion, smoke or waste, wind-generated power slowly has been increasing in popularity since cities such as Eugene, Ore., first began using the technology in the late 1990s.

Seven years after offering its customers the option of dedicating all or part of their electrical payments to buy wind-generated electricity, Eugene officials voted in July to double the amount the city purchases annually to 50 megawatt hours. That will meet the energy needs of 5,000 single-family homes.

Several other cities, including Madison, Wis., Denver and Seattle, also are integrating wind energy into their power grids. Electricity companies in Florida and Oklahoma have statewide programs that use wind-generated power.

Wind energy accounts for less than 1 percent of the nation's electricity, but the Energy Information Administration reports that wind farms were the country's second-largest source of new power generation in 2005, trailing natural gas.

President Bush has said he believes wind power has the potential to produce 20 percent of the nation's electricity if the industry uses sites where the wind is strong enough to support turbine farms. To that end, he approved a tax credit in 2003 designed to spur investment in technology and wind farms.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has urged the Illinois Commerce Commission to require that 8 percent of electricity sold in-state come from renewable sources by 2012. If that's adopted, Illinois would become the nation's largest generator of energy from renewable sources after California.

Northbrook recently has taken steps to aid the environment, including buying cleaner-burning fuels and better emission systems for its vehicles, as well as equipping traffic signals with energy-efficient LEDs. Increasing its reliance on wind power was a no-brainer, Marks said.

"It was an easy thing for us to do," said Marks, who has heard no complaints from residents about the slight increase in energy bills. "We'd like to power even more things with wind in the future."

By jumping on the wind-blown bandwagon, Northbrook stands alongside Naperville as two of the state's pioneers in employing alternative energy sources. In 2005 Naperville allowed its energy customers the option of purchasing environmentally friendly electricity, including power from wind farms.

When the program began, the city's goal was to have 5 percent of its 55,000 homes involved by the end of 2006. That figure was met this summer, according to Naperville city engineer Cyrus Ashrafi.

"The program has been a big success," he said.

Naperville annually purchases about 800 megawatt hours of wind-generated power. While Ashrafi said the city has no plans to increase its renewable energy levels to the point where it could power entire utilities, Northbrook officials hope other towns will eventually follow their breezy lead.

"We'd love to see other communities in the state consider any number of alternative energy sources," said Jim Reynolds, Department of Public Works director.

"Whether it's solar, geothermal, wind power or just buying better cars and turning off more lights, you can take strides toward making a difference in the environment."

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dwischnowsky@tribune.com