help please - i want to bring wind energy to my town

[welshTerrier2]

I've done some reading, mostly on the web, about wind energy but I can't seem to find a good "how to."

Is it economically viable for a relatively small town (pop. around 16,000) to start its own power utility based on wind energy? I live in eastern Massachusetts. Right now, the famous (or infamous) Cape Wind project is stealing all the headlines. It's not clear what impact that would have on individual towns doing there own thing.

I know the "political people" in town but I can't seem to find sufficient information to make a convincing case. Much of what I've read talks about funding a "site survey". Before I could come anywhere close to getting funds for that, I'd need to make a pretty damned convincing case that wind energy could be cost effective. While the arguments about global warming are overwhelmingly convincing to me, I don't think anything that increases the residents' electric bills is going to fly.

Can anyone steer me in the right direction? I'd really like to put some muscle behind this project but can't seem to get the data I need to make the case.

If someone hasn't written a "Bring Wind Energy to Your Town For Dummies", someone should.

[phantom power]

1. I think there are precedents for that kind of localized "energy coop"

The American Wind Energy Association might be good people to ask:

http://www.awea.org/

[Kolesar]

2. If the town owned the distribution system, it would be advantageous

The city would not have to work out an arrangement for a market for electricity. If you were in Ohio, I would direct you to www.greenenergyohio.org , who has managed and facilitated a few utility-scale wind turbine projects. You can still learn a lot at the GEO site! There is a solar association at www.ases.org , and somewhere out there is an alternative energy professional society, but its name escapes me.

[HeraldSquare212]

3. Lots of opposition

I've been surprised at how vehemently rural town residents have fought wind farms. Even some of the crunchiest people I know have fought them as blights on the landscape, which they are, as long as you don't think about the fact that the landscape is being blighted by fossil fuels already. But it's by no means a slam dunk. And I'm not talking about places with scenic vistas like the Cape.

[Spiffarino]

8. You're right, sadly.

The uber-rich along the Massachusetts coast have fought oceanic wind farms for years.

They are short-sighted. Wind farms don't cause asthma, acid rain, tree blight, global warming, etc. But damn, they are SOOO unattractive!

Get real folks. When the first windmills went up in Holland there were surely people bitching then, too. Now we find them adorable.

[razzleberry]

4. how often is wind speed greater than 25 mph ? .n/t

[JohnWxy]

5. tthe American wind Energy Association site has a lot of info, link:

www.awea.org

[skids]

6. Call the wizard...

http://hullwind.org

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. How about Windustry?

http://www.windustry.org/

Read "Reaching Community Wind's Potential," a new Windustry publication discussing policy incentives for community wind.

See if you can find some of the former "new alchemists." They used to be on Cape Cod.

Check out this map of "wind resources" in Massachusetts. It will give you an idea of what sort of wind you have available to you:

[JohnWxy]

11. HERE is a map showing winds potential for the state of massachusetts other than over the shore:

http://rredc.nrel.gov/wind/pubs/atlas/maps/chap3/3-21m.html

THis map shows winds categories 4 and 3 over considerable area of the western and central part of the state. This compares to categories of 4 and 5 around Martha's Vineyard and Block Island.

[WhiteTara]

9. start with the city council

mayor, state rep and senator. Join your local democratic club, join the democratic central committee, draft resolutions for both the city council and the democratic party and county officials, create a door to door campaign, write newspaper articles and many other steps and hoops. These are the original ones Im using to bring LED lighting I'm sure there are many other steps along the way. Good luck.

[Tuesday_Morning]

10. Do you have Discovery Science Channel?

There's a guy on EcoTech tonight that talks about wind turbines.