Apr 17 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Hank Shaw The Record, Stockton, Calif.

Legislation smoothing the way for industry to install a new, smaller breed of wind-energy turbines on buildings passed its first test Wednesday.

Lodi Republican Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi had sponsored a version of this legislation but decided to fold his proposals in with a similar bill sponsored by Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo; Blakeslee's measure passed the Assembly Local Government Committee on Wednesday.

Most cities and counties have ordinances that require building owners to get a special variance for structures such as the small wind turbines now being developed, but because the technology is so new, companies such as Folsom-based Marquiss Wind Power are facing roadblocks to obtaining permits at the municipal level; cities don't know quite how to handle the turbines.

Marquiss, named after Amador County resident Stanley Marquiss, who invented the new style of turbine, is beginning to market 19-foot-tall, boxy turbines intended to be mounted atop commercial and industrial buildings.

Two companies already have the turbines installed, including the Teichert plant in Vernalis. Marquiss' Paul Misso said he is planning to install several in Stockton soon.

He said the legislation would be a boon to the nascent wind-energy industry, which is expanding beyond the gigantic windmills that line the Altamont Pass into smaller, nimbler forms such as the one Marquiss is selling.

Blakeslee and Nakanishi are hoping to work with the California League of Cities, which is concerned about any erosion of municipal power, to develop a model ordinance that cities such as Stockton could employ when a company wants to install one of the turbines.

The San Joaquin County area is one of California's best-suited regions for wind power, thanks to the Delta breeze.

The newer, smaller turbines also avoid one of wind energy's most serious drawbacks: The giant turbines along the Altamont chop up birds at an alarming rate, a problem that segment of the industry is spending millions each year to fix.

Misso says that his turbines don't have the same problem. Not one bird has flown into the unit at Teichert in Vernalis since it was installed Nov. 14, Misso said. The company will install a fine mesh in front of future units as an added safety measure, he said.

Contact Capitol Bureau Chief Hank Shaw at (916) 441-4078 or sacto@recordnet.com.