Southwest Windpower - Renewable Energy Made Simple

Rising cost of electricity generates increased sales of wind turbines in Kenai

Alaska Journal of Commerce
November 13, 2009
By Margaret Bauman
www.alaskajournal.com

Bill Lynch isn't the first home owner on the Kenai Peninsula to install a wind turbine, but the North Slope oilfield worker is confident that the turbine the largest in his neighborhood will generate more than enough energy to eliminate his electric bills.

"It's set up and ready to go," said Lynch, who anticipates that the 50-foot-tall wind turbine, with 9-foot-long blades, may also earn him a small refund every month from Homer Electric Association.

Lynch, an operator for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., lives with his wife, Liz, and their two children, in a large home in Nikiski, in a windy area overlooking Cook Inlet and several oil drilling platforms.

Their monthly electric bills currently average $200, about 300 percent more than the average cost three years ago, he said.

Faced with rising utility costs, Lynch spent some time at a 2009 Kenai Peninsula home show talking to firms that install wind turbines before settling on Alaskan Wind Industries, based in Nikiski.

While everyone he talked to was pretty price competitive, Lynch said he wanted to deal with a local firm, which completed the installation recently.

"We got it because of high electric prices and the government rebate," said Lynch, who chose a 6-kilowatt wind turbine manufactured in Scotland, and delivered to Alaska via containership by a distributor in San Diego.
One of his neighbors already has a 2.4-kilowatt wind turbine up and running, and other neighbors are now eyeing both turbines with interest, he said Nov. 8.

Working with one of two grant writers employed by Alaskan Wind Industries, Lynch will qualify for a 30 percent tax credit from U.S. Treasury for the wind turbine, which cost approxmately $40,000 installed.

Lynch is one of 17 individual home-owners in the Kenai area who have installed wind turbines to date, said Joe Gallagher, public relations spokesperson for the Homer Electric Association.

Most of these homeowners installed 2.4-kilowatt turbines to replace some of the power they are now purchasing from Homer Electric at 15.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, but will continue to buy power from the utility.

Folks like Lynch will be able to sell their excess power back over the grid to Homer Electric at the wholesale rate of 6 cents an hour, but that amount is expected to be minimal, Gallagher said.

The electric utility itself has been involved in discussions on the wind energy potential of Fire Island, near Anchorage, and is looking for potential sites for wind turbines on the Kenai Peninsula too, he said.

Small businesses can apply for 25 percent cash grants through the U.S. Department of Agriculture office in Palmer, said Nadia Daggett, Alaska Wind Industries spokeswoman. Applications may be made prior to installation, but the actual grant may be received only after the wind turbine is commissioned, she said.

To date, Alaska Wind Industries has installed 20 wind turbines and have a several other commitments from customers waiting for their grants to be approved, Daggett said.

In addition to federal Energy Department grants, Alaska Housing Finance Corp. and Alaska USA Federal Credit Union have 15-year loans for wind turbines available at 7 percent interest, she said.

The average homeowner would spend about $25,000 on a wind turbine, although costs will vary depending on the location of the home, she said. The firm is working on getting grants for some community turbines, and others have gotten their own grants, she said.

Meanwhile, Alaska Wind Industries is advertising its year-round installation services and participating in home shows and wind conferences around the state, she said.

The company's mission, Daggett said, is to be the Alaskan leader as a dealer and installer for renewable energies "that are of high quality, extreme weather technology, performance, reliability, aesthetics, quietness, and lowest cost of energy, thereby accelerating the Alaskan adoption of reliable and economic renewable energy systems empowering Alaskans to take control."

The firm is also working with utility companies to develop safe and easy installations for homeowners and all renewable energy producers, she said.

Daggert herself is a trained wind turbine and solar coordinator and installer. She started working with aerodynamics in 1996, when she joined the Experimental Air Craft Association. In 1999, she completed training as a glider pilot at the U.S. Air Force Academy and in 2001, earned a degree in aerospace science. She is the coordinator for the Alaska chapter of Women of Wind Energy and KPARE, the Kenai Peninsula Renewable Resources Organization.

James Daggett, her husband and business partner, is also a trained wind turbine and solar coordinator and installer. Born and raised in Nikiski, he is a union ironworker with Local 751 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers. He is also the owner of Standard Steel, a steel erection firm in the Kenai Peninsula area, and has worked on numerous projects throughout Alaska.

The firm's Homer representative, Erik Schreier, likewise is a trained wind turbine and solar coordinator and installer. Schreier and his wife, Angie, have spent the last five years designing and building off-grid systems. Using a combination of solar and wind, they have produced their own power for the past five years, to be energy self-sufficient.

Nadia Daggett said the idea of starting their company dates back to the summer of 2006, when the couple identified a big need for wind energy in Alaska. "He (James) started bidding larger projects and I started dabbling in small residential projects," she said.

In the beginning they installed a lot of Skystream wind turbines, a 2.4-kilowatt system that costs about $15,000 to $18,000, she said.

As the cost of power rises, and with the threat of rolling winter blackouts looming, the firm hopes to help more home owners, small businesses and whole communities through the paperwork for grants and loans, so they too can harness the wind for energy.

A guide to whether wind turbines are a viable source of energy for small businesses and homes owners is Small Wind Electric Systems: an Alaska Consumer's Guide, which can be downloaded from the Internet at www.windpoweringamerica.gov.

The guide answers a number of questions from the cost of wind systems and the amount of energy each will generate to whether the particular building site has enough wind to justify installation of a wind turbine system.

The same site contains a wealth of information resources, financial opportunities and technologies related to wind energy.