Jul 30 - The Salina Journal

If you pay Westar several hundred dollars a month on electricity, have enough space on your property and can cash in on some of the grants and tax breaks being offered to promote renewable energy, a wind turbine could very well pay for itself in 10 years and then provide "free" electricity for another 15.

"There are a lot of ag operations, there are a lot of small businesses" that could benefit, said Dylan Jones, sales manager for Enertech, a company based in Newton that specializes in medium-size wind turbines -- units that cost $80,000 and more installed and can generate anywhere from 25 to 700 kilowatts an hour. (The average household uses about 1,000 kilowatts a month.)

Dylan was at the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday as part of a panel that talked about wind turbine possibilities for small businesses, schools and other heavy users of electricity.

Tony Mascorro, owner and president of Central Welding and Machine in Hutchinson, was also on the panel. His company works closely with Enertech and specializes in refurbishing equipment. It rebuilds turbines, many from wind farms that are upgrading to newer, larger machines.

Turbines should be located at least one and a half times the tower height from property lines and buildings, Mascorro said. The smallest tower Enertech sells is 80 feet tall; the higher the tower, the stronger and more sustained the wind. Commercial wind farms typically have 300-foot towers.

Net metering helps

Scaling wind turbines to the demand is important, but it doesn't have to be quite as exact as in the past. Earlier this year the Kansas Legislature adopted net metering, which requires that investor-owned utilities -- that is, Westar, Kansas City Power and Light and Empire District Electric, but not cooperatives -- buy back surplus electricity from customers at the full retail rate.

Before net metering was adopted, utilities paid 1.5 times what is called their avoided costs, which often was 2 to 3 cents a kilowatt hour. That compares to a retail price that sometimes approaches 10 cents a kilowatt hour.

Regulations for implementing the new law are expected to be in place early next year.

Dylan stressed that anyone considering wind turbines needs to make sure they have the physical space, get strong wind (the Kansas Corporation Commission has wind maps on its Web site), use enough electricity and don't have access to discounted electricity.

If the average rate is more than 6 cents a kilowatt hour and monthly electricity use is at least 8,000 kilowatt hours, a wind turbine could be cost-effective.

Mascorro said one challenge for many people is financing.

"Up to now, our experience has been it's a little difficult," he said.

nReporter Duane Schrag can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at dschrag@salina.com.

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