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The (Syracuse, NY) February 2, 2003
MADISON COUNTY WINDMILLS MAKE "GREEN' POWER. MORE ARE ON THE HORIZON. Tim Knauss Staff writer The town of Fenner,
just a few miles east of Cazenovia in the rolling hills of Madison County,
is a quiet farming community of 1,680 people where change comes slowly.
Many of the families have been in the area three or four generations, says
town supervisor Russell Cary, himself a fourth-generation resident.
But this quiet community is at the forefront of new technology in
the energy industry. And that technology could someday change the
landscape of many more farm communities, as it has changed
Fenner's. Connected to a nearby substation by 6.6 miles of underground
high-voltage lines, the turbines turn day and night, cranking out a
maximum of 30 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply more than 7,000
homes.
The Fenner wind farm is the largest of three in New York,
all constructed since 2000, and it produces nearly two-thirds of the
state's wind energy.
Visitors come from as far as Buffalo and New York City to see it.
But it might not be a novelty for long.
A recent mandate from Gov. George Pataki is expected to hasten the
pace of wind-power development.
Pataki declared last month that 25 percent of electricity in New
York must be derived from renewable sources within 10 years. The details
have to be worked out, but the standard apparently will force utilities
and other retail suppliers to become buyers of renewable energy.
Wind power, generally one of the most economical sources of
renewable energy, is expected to benefit the most. Industry leaders expect
to see 2,000 megawatts or more - the equivalent of 70 Fenner wind
farms - come on line during the coming decade.
But in the towns where most of the projects will need approval from
local boards, some wind projects are meeting resistance.
Proposed projects in Otsego, Ontario and Erie counties have drawn
opposition in recent months from residents. Most cite concerns about
landscapes dotted with the turbines.
Fenner town officials, with help from Madison County, spent
three years going over the details of the wind farm.
They considered every possible impact, from noise to the
possibility of "stray electricity" that could diminish milk production in
cows, Cary said. They even checked into how far the turning rotors can
throw chunks of ice.
But the biggest concern for Fenner officials - and most
likely the biggest for any town - was the visual impact.
The towers supporting the Fenner wind turbines are about 215
feet tall, tapering from 13 1/2 feet wide at the base to 8 1/2 feet wide
at the top. Three blades, each 113 feet long, extend from rotor hub at the
top of each tower, bringing the total height of the structure to 328 feet.
By comparison, the 23-story State Tower Building, the tallest in
downtown Syracuse, is 315 feet high. The Statue of Liberty, measured from
the foundation of the pedestal to the top of the torch, is about 306 feet
high.
No getting around it, Cary says: "They're big."
Most Fenner residents like the wind farm, in Cary's opinion.
The turbines take only a few acres out of crop production. They provide
annual lease income to the landowners. And wind-farm owner CHI Energy, a
subsidiary of Italian utility giant Enel S.p.A., pays Fenner about
$150,000 a year in lieu of taxes.
Cary says the wind farm fits well into the agricultural community.
Its effect, he said, is "not to change the lifestyle we have, but to
support it and maintain it."
But he concedes that not everyone in town is happy with the
turbines.
Some have mixed feelings about their presence on the landscape.
After a year, people are still getting used to them, he said.
Wind power's virtues are clear. It has no fuel costs. There is no
need to worry about depleting the fuel supply and no dependency on
imports.
And there are no emissions. Fossil fuels burned in the electricity
industry are significant sources of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen oxide, mercury and other pollutants that environmental officials
are working to eliminate.
Some consumers are willing to pay more money to support the clean
attributes of wind, says Brent Alderfer, president of Community Energy of
Wayne, Pa., which sells the output of Fenner wind farm to
consumers.
Here's how that works:
CHI Energy, the owner of the facility, sells power like every other
generator for whatever it can get on the wholesale market. Prices vary,
but they're typically in the neighborhood of 3 or 4 cents per
kilowatt-hour.
Community Energy, meanwhile, sells the so-called "green tags" from
the same power to retail customers for up to 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.
The green tags, which are tracked by the state so they can't be
sold more than once, pay CHI for the extra cost of wind that it can't make
from the wholesale market.
In reality, customers who buy wind energy get the same electricity
their neighbors get. But the premiums the customers pay support the wind
power developer, and thus encourage more wind development, Alderfer said.
In a program launched in September, Community Energy and two other
companies began selling wind power and other renewable power at a premium
to customers of Niagara Mohawk. About 5,000 of the utility's 1.5 million
customers had signed up as of late January, Niagara Mohawk officials said.
So far, about two-thirds of Fenner's capacity has been sold
to retail customers, and Alderfer said he expects the remainder to be sold
by the end of the year.
Fenner Windpower Project was built, at a cost of $34
million, on speculation. But the renewable portfolio standard announced by
Pataki offers the promise that utilities may contract for the output of
wind facilities before they're built, making the projects easier to
finance.
In any case, wind projects seem to be the only kind the electric
industry wants to build these days.
At 30 megawatts, Fenner wind farm is the largest power plant
constructed in Central New York since the mid-1990s, according to records
at the state Public Service Commission.
Consider: After more than a year of planning and working for
regulatory approval, Sithe Energies and General Electric last year pulled
the plug on an 800-megawatt power plant in Scriba that would have run on
natural gas.
Heritage Station would have cost about $350 million. The companies
said there was no way they could justify that kind of investment in New
York's uncertain power market.
But in the snow-swept reaches of the Tug Hill plateau, Atlantic
Renewable Energy Corp. is laying the groundwork for a generating station
that will cost nearly as much as Heritage, yet produce far less power.
Atlantic Renewable's 240-megawatt project is expected to cost about
$300 million, company principal Bill Moore said. That's $1,250 for every
kilowatt of generating capacity, compared with $438 per kilowatt for
Heritage Station.
Of course, the wind farm won't have to pay for fuel, which is a
significant cost for gas-fired electricity. But government mandates also
factor in.
The federal government, for example, permits corporations to
depreciate their wind-power investment over five years rather than over
the 20-year life of the turbines, reducing tax bills during the
capital-intensive early years of the project. Operators also get a tax
credit of 1.8 cents for every kilowatt-hour they produce for 10 years.
Pataki's declaration of a renewable portfolio standard will help
prime the market.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has
provided $22 million to subsidize construction of six wind projects, out
of total costs estimated at $425 million. Four projects are still in
development.
The authority uses money collected from electric ratepayers to
support renewable energy and energy efficiency.
In addition, Pataki ordered state agencies in 2001 to buy 10
percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2005, and 20
percent by 2010.
And the New York Power Authority, a state-owned utility, recently
announced plans to buy 50 megawatts of wind power.
But wind is hardly the only technology to get a subsidy. The
nuclear industry benefited from years of federally funded research. The
government also spends millions researching coal-burning technologies. And
the oil and gas industry receives significant tax breaks for exploration
and other activities.
Flat Rock Wind Power Project will be one of the nation's largest,
if it gets fully built. The first phase of the project will be 100
megawatts, but Moore thinks he can build the whole 240.
Four other projects in the state totaling 315 megawatts have
received grants from the state energy research authority.
In addition, the Long Island Power Authority wants to build a
100-megawatt facility off shore.
And developers are busy studying dozens of other locations.
UPC Wind Partners of South Yarmouth, Mass., has proposed building
wind turbines offshore in Lake Ontario and along the shoreline in Oswego.
The company also is trying to build a controversial 420-megawatt wind farm
off the shore of Cape Cod.
New York seems primed for wind development. How much of the
potential is realized might well be determined by local town boards.
"Everyone agrees green power is a good thing," said Cary, the
Fenner town supervisor. "When it comes to putting it your back
yard, it takes a lot of guts to make that commitment."
Bill Moore, the developer of Flat Rock Wind Project in Lewis
County, has more experience than anyone building wind farms in New York.
His company developed the Fenner and Madison projects in Madison
County before selling its interests.
Moore says some communities might choose not to develop wind
projects because of the visual impacts, but he doesn't think that will
impede the industry.
There are many good sites, mostly in the central and western parts
of the state, and many of those communities will welcome the investment,
he said.
"It makes sense for the town boards and planning boards to be
making that decision, making the value judgment - the tradeoff between
economic development and visual impacts," Moore said. "Let the local folks
do that."
How to buy wind power
Several suppliers sell green energy, including wind power, to
customers of Niagara Mohawk. To learn more or to sign up, call the
suppliers or visit their Web sites:
Community Energy: (866) 946-3123 or www.newwindenergy.com
Green Mountain Energy: (888) 246-6730 or www.greenmountain.com
Sterling Planet: (877) 362-9982 or www.sterlingplanet.com
Customers of New York State Electric & Gas also can buy wind
power. Contact NYSEG at (800) 356-9734 or visit www.nyseg.com for
details. Copyright, 2003, The
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