Windmill talk in Hancock sparks interest

HANCOCK - At least 70 people packed a conference hall at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort Thursday night to learn how they might use 100-foot-high wind turbines to reduce electric bills at home and at work.

Jiminy Peak is striving to become the first resort of its kind in North America to reduce its energy costs by installing a 253-foot, 1,500-kilowatt wind turbine near its summit by July.

Engineer Chris Vreeland of Precision Decisions in Otis led the free workshop, which was sponsored by the non-profit Center for Environmental Technology and supported by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

Vreeland began by speaking for an hour not about windmills but about an easier and less costly method by which consumers can reduce energy use by as much as 50 percent by switching off auxiliary refrigerators and swapping incandescent light bulbs for compact florescent bulbs. Home and business owners should consider conservation before investing in solar panels or wind turbines, he said.

"It would offer a much faster payback than you're looking at here," he told the predominantly male audience, as they sat sipping coffee and thumbing through stacks of handouts.

Vreeland's PowerPoint presentation demonstrated small turbines between 80 and 120 feet high that can produce 0.3 to 50 kilowatts in 10 mph winds. They cost between $15,000 and $60,000 to install, he said, explaining that a turbine might "pay for itself" in six to 30 years. He said some turbine owners apply for grants to offset installation costs.

"It does require some maintenance," he said, noting some of the complications of turbine ownership. "The wind is not always dependable, which affects how much you wind up selling back to the grid."

National Grid customers producing energy have the option of selling the energy back to the company in order to reduce electricity bills instead of using the energy directly.

Brian Fairbank, Jiminy Peak's president and CEO, said before Vreeland's presentation that he is adjusting the resort's electrical wiring to use half the energy its turbine will produce internally and will sell the other half.

Vreeland asked how many people in the audience were considering installing a wind turbine at a commercial location. About seven people, including at least one farmer, raised their hands.

Zoning restrictions are growing increasingly stringent in some communities as more people consider installing wind turbines, Vreeland noted. In Hancock, a proposed bylaw would restrict towers measuring more than 150 feet tall. Residents will decide on the bylaw in the annual town meeting in May.

While Fairbank does not have current plans to build more turbines, and the bylaw would not restrict the one he is building, he said he disagreed with the language of the bylaw.

"I wish the town would allow them through special permits rather than close the door," he said.