Published: December 12, 2008 10:51 pm         

Couple buys wind turbine

Janis Burger, 61, always tries to find renewable ways to power her home.

She and her husband, Gary, had a solar home in Pennsylvania, but now that they’ve moved back to Oklahoma, they are turning to the wind.

“When we were on the East Coast, there wasn’t enough wind to make it feasible,” Burger said. “So when we moved back to Oklahoma, that was one of the things that was on my list.”

Burger and her husband will become Stillwater’s first household with a wind turbine next week.

“I’m expecting to be known as the house with the windmill here,” she said. “We’re very excited.”

While large wind turbines supply power on a large scale, smaller turbines are becoming increasingly popular residential uses.

“The nice thing about the small wind turbine, the individual size, they will operate at a slower wind speed,” said Jeff Tullis, Stillwater electric utility director. “An average home can easily get the majority of their power from a 10 kilowatt turbine.”

The 10 kw turbine may be the most popular size for typical homes, but Tullis said Stillwater’s new net metering system allows for renewable sources up to 100 kw. Solar and other renewable energy also is offered.

With the system, a customer will use one meter to records energy flow forward and backward. If a household uses less energy than is produced during a month, that customer would essentially “sell” that energy back to public utility and would get a credit on his or her bill, Tullis said.

“Potentially, they could reduce their electric bill to zero, if they had an adequate size wind turbine,” he said. “But it’s going to vary month to month.”

The Stillwater Utility Authority approved the net metering system in October, Tullis said.

Of course, customers will save money each month on their electric bills, but renewable resources have other potential benefits.

“You fix the cost. You’re not subject so much to the rate increases,” Bergey said. “You’re also helping the environment by reducing the amount of coal that’s burned, and to a lesser extend, natural gas.”

Behind the times

Michael Bergey, president of Bergey Windpower Co. in Norman, said the system converts torque into electricity.

“The wind turbine has blades that act like the wings of an airplane, and they are driven around and around by the wind and that drives an alternator, or generator,” Bergey said.

For safety reasons, the system will shut off when the city’s electricity goes off per national standards, Tullis said.

Bergey said the 10 kw turbines are 22 feet in diameter, weigh about 1,000 pounds and stand on a 100-foot tower.

He said they sell at his store for around $50,000 and since Oklahoma doesn’t offer any state subsidies, there’s a 15 to 20 years pay-back period.

“As a result, we don’t sell very many here,” Bergey said. “The market here in Oklahoma would be better if there were a state tax credit, and we’re hoping that’s something that will be considered by the state legislature this year.”

He said most of his business comes from the coasts, with less than 1 percent coming from the Sooner State.

Tullis said he hopes the state soon will start offering more incentives for Oklahomans.

“It certainly has the same potential, if not better,” he said. “Anyone who’s lived in Oklahoma for any amount of time, they know the wind blows all the time.”

Burger, one of Bergey’s customers, said she thinks Oklahoma should be leading the wind-power movement.

“I just think Oklahoma should step up and say, ‘Look America, this is how you do it,’” she said.

‘Dream come true’

Residents who want to purchase a turbine and use wind power need to complete an application and obtain certain permits from the city, Tullis said. Additionally, the resident needs an unobstructed acre to pass qualifications.

Burger said she and her husband decided to retire to Oklahoma and got a lot big enough to house a turbine.

“It really just makes so much sense where we are here to be able to generate (energy),” Burger said. “I think if we live where there’s wind, we should use wind. If you live where they have sun, use sun.”

Despite her history with renewable resources, she said she doesn’t consider herself a tree-hugger.

“I would say I’m a conservationist,” Burger said. “Being children of the ’60s, we were always conscious of the effects people have on the environment.”

Bergey suggests people cut their energy consumption before buying a wind system, too.

“The more you conserve, the smaller the wind turbine it takes to take care of the rest,” he said.

Burger said she’s excited about the new addition, which she said will be worth it since she doesn’t expect to move from the state.

“We’ve come back to Oklahoma. We’re going to stay in Oklahoma,” she said. “It’s kind of a dream come true.”

     

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