Apr 22 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Kevin Kirkland Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



"You usually get blown off the top of this hill," says Barbara Broxterman as she surveys her 100-plus-acre Greene County horse farm.

"The wind blows almost all the time, up to 50 or 60 mph," agrees John Stewart from his 50-acre hilltop site about 10 miles from the Broxtermans' Cross Winds Farm.

But on a beautiful spring day when a reporter and videographer visit, no breeze stirs their wind turbines. Later, as if sensing its 15 minutes of video fame passing, the 6-foot-long aluminum blades of the Broxtermans' 33-foot turbine begin turning lazily. It's enough for the videographer, but not the 8 mph wind needed to generate energy.

Western Pennsylvania's unpredictable winds and hilly terrain make it tough to say exactly how much money you could save on your electric bill with a wind turbine. But the people who already have them are sure it was the right move, both financially and environmentally.

 "It was something we wanted to do ... [but] we're not tree huggers, for sure," said Frank Brewster of Harmony, speaking for himself and his wife, D.J. "We knew coal, electric and gas prices were going to continue to rise."

Since Vox Energy Solutions installed a 65-foot-tall, Skystream 3.7 turbine about a year ago on their 108-acre farm, the Brewsters have seen their monthly electric bill fall by around 25 percent, sometimes more. Vox sales representative Julie DiPasquale says it produces about 6,000 kilowatt/hours per year.

"All I know is our bill keeps going down," Mr. Brewster said. "We're saving $75 to $150 a month."

Complicating that calculation is the fact that a household's energy usage fluctuates throughout the year, as does the cost of electricity. Pennsylvania's electrical costs are lower than much of the rest of the country, but with deregulation that will likely change. At current electric rates, the Brewsters' $20,000 wind turbine could take 7-10 years to pay for itself. But if rates double or triple, the payback period would be much shorter.

Anything "green" is hot right now, but most sustainable technologies don't really catch on until users can see real cost savings. Wind, solar and geothermal are near that tipping point, but for now, those who choose alternative energies are driven mainly by good (Earth-friendly) intentions.

"I'm a believer. I would like everyone to have a turbine," said Mrs. Broxterman.

"I originally wanted 25 percent savings, but savings of 15 to 20 percent would make me happy. Somehow in my head I actually make money off of it," she said, smiling at the Skystream 3.7 turbine installed last fall by Tri-State Electric.

For more than 30 years, she and her husband, Jan, have been trying to reduce their carbon footprint -- even when no one called it that. While living in Florida in the 1970s, they had solar water heaters. Their turbo diesel car gets 48 miles to the gallon. Their house is insulated with Icynene foam and warmed by a wood burner with propane backup.

Mrs. Broxterman, an agricultural engineer who works for the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service in Morgantown, W.Va., put up an anemometer before going ahead with a wind turbine. For a year, she recorded the daily average wind speed, hoping it was at least 8 mph at ground level. Though it was just under the energy-generating minimum, the winds are stronger 30 feet up, at the horizontal axis turbine's business end.

The turbine made a lot of noise in the test phase, but once Joe Larkin and Tri-State leveled the shaft on its massive concrete base, it turned to a pleasant whirr that doesn't bother the couple's Andalusian horses or grass-fed beef cattle.

The cost was $15,000, made more affordable by a 30 percent federal tax credit. The Broxtermans had also expected a 15 percent state tax credit, but that break vanished last year during the state budget crisis.

Commercial wind turbines qualify for tax credits and 30 percent federal grants, Mr. Larkin said. A former electrical contractor, he has installed about 30 turbines in southwestern Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia over the past few years. Though most are residential, he has also installed them at hotels and other businesses. Some are hybrid systems, including photovoltaic solar panels.

In Franklin, Greene County, Mr. Stewart qualifies for commercial tax breaks on his turbine because it serves both his home and dog-breeding kennel. For nearly 30 years, he kept Labrador retrievers, hunted and worked as a roads foreman for PennDOT. But he has focused on his dogs since losing sight in both eyes because of diabetes and complications from cataract surgery in 2007.

"I like being outside, but I can't mow my own yard," he said as he led a tour of his kennel, named Stewart's Utopia.

Close by his side was Silver Sadie, a 9-month-old Lab he plans to breed. His cousin Bryan Cole, who also is a breeder, brought a litter of six silver puppies over for a visit. On a rise behind the kennel was a Skystream 3.7 turbine on a 33-foot pole.

Installed last year by Tri-State Electric for $18,000, it has saved Mr. Stewart between 30 and 40 percent on his electric bills and accounted for nearly half of his usage in November and December, he said. Since the turbine is "net metered," it feeds energy back into the regional power grid. Although he can't actually see it, Mr. Stewart knows that his digital electric meter runs backward when he generates more electricity than he uses.

Wind turbines have come a long way from the ones he first read about in the 1970s in Mother Earth magazine. Those windmills stored DC power in huge, expensive batteries contained within "Delco houses." Today, batteries for use during power outages -- wind turbines cannot provide household current -- cost about the same as a generator, Mr. Larkin said.

"You have to see it as an investment," he said. "Wind turbines will do more as the price of electricity goes up."

Kevin Kirkland: kkirkland@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1978.

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