California consumer interest in home wind energy generators has increased sharply since the beginning of the year as the state's prolonged electricity crisis has made daily headlines and raised customer fears of rate shock, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said today.

Bergey Windpower Co., Inc., an AWEA member and leading manufacturer of residential wind turbines, said it sold 40 home units in California in January, compared with just six in all of 2000 and 12 in all of 1999 (when Y2K fears boosted sales). "It looks as though we may come close to doubling that total this month.  Sales are exploding. We see this as perhaps the launch of a new age of affordable personal power generation," said company president Michael Bergey, who chairs AWEA's Small Turbine Committee.

Bergey said his company's Web site traffic doubled in January, and inquiries from potential customers in California quadrupled: "All this has happened without any significant visibility in terms of advertising. Some of our dealers have installed machines, and people are driving up to their houses to find out how to buy one."

One new small wind systems dealer, Guasti Construction, in Oak Hills, Calif., near San Bernardino, is selling over $250,000 worth of the units per week.  Joe Guasti, the firm's president, said, "I've just been overwhelmed.  People are really getting concerned about our energy situation and they are tired of being at the mercy of the power company. After conservation, a small wind system is their best way to further insulate themselves from these rate increases."

Small wind energy systems are installed to fully or partially power a home, ranch or small business. The wind spins a wind system's propeller-like rotor, which turns a generator to produce electricity. Typically a home wind turbine is interconnected with utility lines through the circuit-breaker panel in the home. Any excess power generated by the unit can be delivered to the utility, further reducing electricity bills (California and many other states allow the utility meter to simply run backward when excess power is being generated).  Small wind systems typically do not use batteries--the power generated by the wind turbine is either immediately used in the home or immediately transmitted to the power company.

California currently offers a rebate of up to 50% on the purchase price of a home wind energy system to customers of the state's three major utilities--Pacific Gas and Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison--and Bear Valley Electric Company. Purchasers of a qualifying wind system must apply to the California Energy Commission (CEC), and rebates are issued on a first-come, first-served basis. "This rebate, which is funded by a public benefit charge and encourages customers to invest in wind energy systems, is proving to be a wise investment for California," said AWEA executive director Randall Swisher. "Each home or small business running on wind energy helps cut overall electricity demand and reduce the need for new power plants and transmission lines."

A typical 10-kW home wind system costs about $16,000 to install after the CEC rebate, and produces an average of 900-1500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month.  California homeowners pay 12-15 cents/kWh for power, or almost twice the national average of 8.5 cents.  The wind turbines have no operating costs, so homeowners can recoup their initial investment in six to 10 years.  After that they have essentially free electricity.  Small wind systems are designed to operate for at least 30 years.

The best candidates for a small wind system are rural homes and businesses with at least an acre of property and utility bills that average $150 per month or more.

In order to further expand the potential market for small wind systems and help protect utility customers from rate shock, AWEA recommends that:

• City and county ordinances be tailored to accommodate wind energy systems as a "permitted use".
• The state's rebate on wind energy systems be better publicized, expanded to cover systems up to 50 kilowatts (kW) in capacity, and extended to all California residents.

"With the enormous uncertainty about future electricity supplies and costs in California, there is a clear opportunity here for both state and local governments to take action to encourage small wind systems because of the public benefits that they provide to the community," said Swisher.

Consumer contacts:

--California Energy Commission rebate program: (916) 653-2834 or (916) 654-4721
--Bergey Windpower: www.bergey.com
--For a listing of small wind turbine manufacturers, see
http://www.awea.org/directory/wtgmfgr.htmlhtml on AWEA's Web site.
--Information on installing small wind systems in several U.S. states is available from AWEA at http://www.awea.org/smallwind 

The following is relevant information about small wind systems:

Personal Power Generation
Federal law (Sec. 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, also known as PURPA) allows a consumer to install a small wind turbine on his/her property and interconnect it to the power grid in such a way as to reduce utility bills.  Utilities can set technical requirements, but are otherwise prohibited from discriminating against customers installing wind equipment.  PURPA also requires utilities to pay consumers for any excess generation.

Over 30 states have now enhanced PURPA by allowing "Net Metering" for small wind generators.  Under net metering, the utility meter is allowed to turn backwards, so that the utility effectively serves as a storage system for excess electricity.  Most residential and small business wind energy systems do not include batteries.  As power is generated, it is either immediately used in the home or immediately transmitted to the utility company.  No changes in household wiring are necessary.  Home wind systems are easily retrofitted to existing homes.

Small Wind Turbines
Modern small wind turbines incorporate very sophisticated technology, but are simple in design.  Reducing the number of moving parts has greatly improved the reliability of these systems.  Many small wind turbines require almost no maintenance.
U.S. companies are the market and technology leaders.  American small wind turbines have been installed in every state and have been exported to over 140 countries.

Small wind turbines require less wind than large wind turbines, so they can be used effectively in more areas.  An estimated 60% of the U.S. has sufficient wind resources for small wind.  Small wind turbines are considerably less expensive than solar (photovoltaic) electric systems.  A typical home wind system costs approximately $32,000, while a comparable solar system would cost over $60,000.

U.S. Market Potential for Small Wind Systems
Residential electricity consumption now exceeds either commercial consumption or industrial consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.  In 1998 homes consumed 35% of total U.S. electricity generation.   Approximately 21 million U.S. homes have one acre of property or more.  One acre is generally considered necessary for the installation of a wind turbine powerful enough to virtually eliminate the electric bill.

The industry has estimated the potential market for small wind systems in the U.S. at 4 million to 8 million units, or 40,000 to 80,000 megawatts (MW).  The U.S. Dept. of Energy estimates the potential market at 5 million units, or 50,000 MW.  Total installed costs are expected to decline from $3, 200 per kilowatt (kW) today to $1,500/kW by 2010.

Zoning height restrictions are a major obstacle for small wind systems.  Many zoning ordinances were written without consideration of wind energy systems and limit accessory structures to 35 ft.  A wind system should be installed on a taller tower  at least 60 ft. for the smallest units and 80 ft. for a home-sized unit.

###

AWEA, formed in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy
industry. The association's membership of more than 700 includes turbine
manufacturers, wind project developers, utilities, academicians, and interested
individuals from 49 states. More information on wind energy is available from the home page
of the AWEA web site: www.awea.org 

AWEA News | Home Page | Wind Energy Weekly

© 2001 by the American Wind Energy Association.
May be freely distributed provided this notice is included.
All other rights reserved.