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Utilities are a breeze

Laramie Boomerang (WY)
August 13, 2008
www.laramieboomerang.com
By Carrie Haderlie

Grant McWilliams is seen at his ranch home in rural Albany County with his Skystream residential power wind turbine in the background.
 
On a mildly windy day, a turbine south of Wyoming Highway 230 might hum just a little. It is not enough to be obtrusive, and sometimes, it sounds a little like birds chirping.

And after a month’s worth of mildly windy days, Grant McWilliams, owner of the first residential, on-grid wind turbine in Albany County, explained, the lightly humming turbine will likely produce around half of the electricity his household uses.

“I think that this really is the way to go,” McWilliams said. “Wind is such a natural thing. It blows all the time out here.”

McWilliams’ turbine, located at his home southwest of Laramie, is a Skystream 3.7, a residential power appliance that harnesses wind energy and transforms it into electricity.

McWilliams’ system is totally on-grid, meaning that his turbine hooks directly into local power company meters. Through a net metering contract with the power company, McWilliams will receive credit for the kilowatt-hours of electricity his turbine produces, potentially cutting his power bills by 40-90 percent. Eventually, if his turbine produces more electricity than he can use, the extra energy will be fed into the grid, and the power company will pay McWilliams for his energy contributions.

For the seven years he has lived on Highway 230, McWilliams said he has monitored wind speeds. The average wind speed three years ago was 11 mph. Two years ago, it was 12 mph and last year, it was 13 mph.

“Thirteen miles per hour, that comes out with about 400 kilowatts per month,” McWilliams said. “What you do then is you look at your electric bill. Say you (use) 860 kilowatts in a month. Theoretically, the (wind turbine) should take care of half of that.

“So, go figure, I don’t see how a guy can lose,” McWilliams said.

In a net-metering system like the one McWilliams uses, the power companies buy energy back at 2.5 cents per kilowatt.

“The good thing about it is that even if they raise your electric rates, it is eating against your meter,” McWilliams said. “Even if the rates go up, we are making more money.”

The turbine sits on a 33-foot pole and has three fiberglass reinforced composite blades. It starts spinning when wind speeds reach eight mph and produces maximum electricity at 20-25 mph.

It stops producing at 60 mph, but it can survive up to 140 mph winds.

The turbine has a five-year warranty and is expected to last 10-15 years, McWilliams said.

The turbine cost about $15,000, including installation.

“These are really relatively affordable,” McWilliams said. “I think it’ll pay for itself. And if the electric rates go up, I think it will be an investment.”

McWilliams said he did run into some difficulties when seeking state approval for his turbine.