For a few years now, I have been thinking about ways to generate my own electricity for my family's home in Vermont. (Household spats between parents and children generate heat but not much power.) For the last 18 months, I've patiently waited for our local alternative energy company to bring their wind turbine product to market. While they work on perfecting their technology, I've decided to move ahead with a 10 kilowatt Bergey wind turbine.
I spent much of a weekend clearing the site where the turbine will be installed. (There is something cathartic about clearing land. I always experience a degree of physical exhaustion that is uncharacteristic of any other type of exercise.) The next step in the process is securing a permit. Sadly, Vermont has been unwelcoming to wind power. Governments at all levels in the United States need to prove their commitment to curbing dependence on foreign oil by providing support and incentive to homeowners who are willing to make their own investment in renewable energy.
However, Vermont does make it a bit easier to get a residential turbine approved than a commercial installation, and a new law guarantees that any electricity generated by a residential turbine must be purchased by the local utility at $.20 a kilowatt hour. This is called net-metering, and it's a decent deal considering that here in the Green Mountain State we pay between $.10 and $.13 for the energy we purchase. Solar gets an even better deal at $.30 a kilowatt hour.
I'd already made the rounds to talk with my neighbors about the home turbine project, and most of them are pretty enthusiastic. They will have the option of objecting to my permit application, but they all have pledged their support. Now I've got to wait between 30 and 60 days while the town processes the application.
My turbine will cost about $50,000 before rebates and tax credits. There is a cash incentive grant worth $12,500, which lowers the net cost to $37,500; and then a 30% federal tax credit that will further reduce the cost to about $25,000. I expect the turbine will generate at least 8,000 kilowatts a year. If I sell all the energy to the grid, it will generate about $1,600. That means that it will take about 15 years to break even on my investment -- unless the wind blows harder or the tax credits go up! Stay tuned...
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The .20 and .30 Vermont is willing to pay for renewable power shows you how far it has to go to be competitiv
Wind energy received $23.37 per megawatt-h
And this potential 1-10,000th of a percent of the state's usage is so important for your fellow citizens to pay you almost twice what they normally pay for electricit