Power play: NCAT helps tap wind resources

Being raised in Lewistown instilled in Powell County resident Willie Schubert a stark dislike for wind.
“ Where I grew up, I hated the wind,” Schubert said. “ Now when the wind blows my hat off, I go, `Ooh boy!”’

By Diane Cochran, of The Montana Standard

That’s because Schubert is one of a handful of Montanans generating his own electricity with the power of wind.
With help from Butte’s National Center for Appropriate Technology, Schubert and his wife Bettina installed a 10-kilowatt windmill in their yard
southwest of Deer Lodge in November.
“ The notion is very interesting to me,” Schubert said. “ Like any Montanan, I like to be independent.”
Using funds collected through Montana Power Co.’s uni versal systems benefits charge, NCAT shouldered partial installation costs for eight
residential wind machines last year, said the organization’s Jim Tracy.
“ Some people put them in because they think it’ll be an economic benefit … and some like the independence,” said NCAT’s John Walden.
Dan O’Keefe, who lives on Moulton Road north of Butte, hopes to conserve energy with his windmill. O’Keefe plugged it in Halloween night. “ It
took a week and a half for the wind to blow,” he said. Schubert reported the same phenomenon.
“ We put up the windmill and it quit,” he said. “ After three weeks, it wasn’t funny anymore.”
Whether the wind really did quit or it just seemed that way, Montana boasts an excellent wind resource, according to Tracy.
“ Butte as a whole is not a great wind resource, but certain areas are really, really good,” he said.
Good enough that NCAT is looking for more participants in its wind energy grant program. If the agency approves a wind power system — which must
be designed by the applicant — it will pay about one-third the installation costs.
Without financial assistance, putting up a windmill can cost from $27,000 to $30,000, by Schubert’s and O’Keefe’s estimates.
Although there are multiple qualify ing factors for the program — like hav ing at least an acre of land that’s not too close to anyone else — the key is
being a Montana Power Co. customer, Walden said.
MPC meters folks with wind genera tors. When their wind machines produce electricity, it’s pumped back into the power grid, running their meters
back ward in the process.
“ You could actually produce enough electricity to not have to pay Montana Power,” said Walden.
Breaking even is the best one can hope for though — MPC doesn’t pay any one if their windmill produces more electricity than they use, according
to Walden.
But there’s always back up power — provided by MPC — when the wind isn’t blowing.
O’Keefe and Schubert love watching their meters run backwards.
“ I want to see about getting it wired upstairs so I can sit (in the living room) and watch it,” O’Keefe said.
Neither man has had his windmill up and running long enough to tell how much money the gadget is saving.
“ It really takes a year or maybe five years to get your average,” Schubert said.
He hopes his wind machine will pay for itself in 10 years.
Most windmill manufacturers claim 20-year life spans for their machines, Walden said.
According to O’Keefe, the actual wind machine weighs 1,000 pounds and has 11-foot-long blades. His sits on a 70-foot tower; Schubert’s is on a
60-foot tower.
Despite their size, the machines are relatively quiet.
“ When you’re standing outside, it sounds like no more than a dishwasher,” O’Keefe said. “ But you have to take into account the wind is blowing
anyway, so you hear wind.”
For more information about NCAT’s wind energy grant program, visit http://www.montanagreenpower.com or con tact the organization at 494-4572.

–Reporter Diane Cochran may be reached via e-mail at diane.cochran(at)(at)mtstandard.com.

http://www.mtstandard.com/rednews/2002/02/04/build/newslocal/lnews2.html