Turbines could cut energy costs
By BILL RODGERS Tribune ChronicleArticle Photos
LORDSTOWN - The village administration building could become a wind farm, should two state and federal grant applications win approval.
Council members have agreed to set aside $13,000 toward the village's share of a $130,000 project that would bring two 96-foot high wind turbines to property near the village administration building on Salt Springs Road. And if the plan becomes a reality, the village could save about $550 per month on administrative power bills, a savings of about 50 percent, according to Lordstown Planning and Zoning Administrator Ron Barnhart. The figure is from the building's power usage during the summer months.
''I've been interested in alternative energy like wind and solar power. I thought wind power would be better for us,'' Barnhart said.
The village is working on grants with Alliance-based Wind Turbines of Ohio. The goal is to get 90 percent of the project funded through an Ohio Department of Development grant and a grant from the federal Appalachian Regional Commission. If approved, the twin turbines could go up sometime in the spring, Barnhart said.
The two turbines under consideration would cost about $65,000 each and are 10 kilowatt models made by Bergey Windpower of Oklahoma.
But the question that remains is whether Lordstown has enough wind to make the venture worthwhile.
"Eastern Ohio does not support utility-grade turbines," said Greg Courtney, owner of Wind Turbines of Ohio, referencing large megawatt-producing wind turbines most people are familiar with. "But all of Ohio has sufficient wind for a classification of small wind turbines, meaning 100 kilowatts and less."
Courtney - who has been putting up wind turbines in Ohio since 2007 - founded his company in June 2008. He's also a real-estate broker who owns more than 300 apartments and a banquet center, he said. He said he thought an installation business for wind power could be profitable after seeing wind turbines in the Columbia River Gorge. His Web site documents the small turbines he helped install throughout the Mahoning Valley.
Courtney said the turbine Lordstown is considering starts producing electricity in winds of about 8 mph. He believes, according to wind study charts from AWS True Wind, which has done contract work with the state, Lordstown has an annual average wind speed of about 14 mph. According to additional maps from AWS True Wind provided by the Ohio Department of Development, it appears Lordstown has annual average wind speeds of at least 12 mph.
Courtney believes the village can get 25-kw hours per year from each turbine.
Lordstown isn't the first public entity in the region to try wind power. Western Reserve Schools in Berlin Center has had three small wind turbines up for about one month, according to Superintendent Chuck Swindler. They were installed by Tri County Tower Service, which is based in Austintown, he said.
The turbines start producing electricity in winds of 3 mph; at a height of 110-feet, the wind averages about 11 mph. Swindler said it's too early to tell what the savings on the school's electricity would be, though he hopes for about 20 percent. Power generated by the turbines goes into the grid, and the balance of the power generated to what the school doesn't use - when the lights are off over summer vacation, for example- is credited to the school's future power bill, Swindler said.
Swindler said the district was cautious before putting up the towers, researching windspeeds on school grounds for about three years. The district put up a test turbine, which charted the day's windspeeds and came up with an average.
"Not every site is suitable just because of location and so on. We're near the highest point in Mahoning County," he said.
Courtney said he thought a test site would not be necessary in Lordstown. The wind-speed research has already been done, he said.
"The wind charts that are available are accurate to one tenth of a mile per hour," he said.
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DrSpankit
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12-02-09 6:44 AM
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not for you?
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paulydel
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11-30-09 4:58 PM
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Use the wind to your advantage and screw what other people say about the turbines.
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insider
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11-30-09 4:48 PM
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They(wind turbines) may pepper the landscape in sparse areas like AZ, but most people live in cities, towns and suburbs, and the market has decided the most efficient and economical way to make and deliver electricity there is by nuclear fission and burning fossil fuels. We still have centuries supplies of uranium, coal and natural gas, so why are we hitting the taxpayer up so the wind power fanatics can have high tech toys to play with?
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AnotherOvertaxedResident
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11-30-09 3:20 PM
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Billdog: I don't want our government involved at all regarding much of anything. Let this market succeed (if wind energy is cost effective) or fail (if it isn't) on it's own. I really think that wind and solar are as established as they are is due to government subsidizing their purchase. Remove that and you wouldn't see wind farms anywhere.
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BrewSlugger
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11-30-09 2:01 PM
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So provided the 'government' pays for all of these wind turbines, then this green energy thing is feasible. LOL
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Billdog
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11-30-09 12:31 PM
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insider, in states other than Ohio these wind turbines do pepper the the country side. Take a drive from here to AZ and you will see more than you can believe. Every year there are more. They are like farms. Not that I am a supporter of the turbines but they are being used in many other parts of the country. They are over priced and we still do not know about maintenance. They haven't been in use for much more than 30 years. I was stationed in Alaska in 1980 and they put about 20 of these up. I would like to know if they paid for them selves or not? I like the idea that our government is looking to ways to use renewable energy, but I don't think this is one of best ways to do it. I made a small one in my back yard with an old generator motor. The 5,000 watt generator is hooked to four deep cell batteries. It won't hardly generate enough power to run my outside lights for a night.
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insider
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11-30-09 10:54 AM
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Apparently logic is a foreign concept to the wind power fanatics. If wind power was economically feasible, private companies would be stampeding to put up wind turbines to make electricity at a profit. I drive around the countryside and don't see the landscape peppered with these miracle machines. Does the $130,000 include free lifetime maintenance? I doubt it. Does the manufacture and delivery and set up of the turbine use only green energy? I doubt it. Will we non-Lordstown state and federal taxpayers get anything in return for paying 90% of the cost? That's a definite NO! Bonus question: $1100 a month electricity bill for the administration building? What is their AC set to? 62 degrees?
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jonathon
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11-30-09 10:40 AM
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Thinker, you say you live in Lordstown and you told OMG not to worry about how WE spend money. I totally agree with you Lordstown can spend their own money as they see fit but in this case Lordstown wants to spend $117,000 of tax payers money for this project.If and when the project is completed I'd love to see some follow up stats on just how much these turbines actually save Lordstown. I believe the $550.00 monthly savings are being inflated to make the sale of them more desirable.
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Moeprops
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11-30-09 9:31 AM
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Dr.. As far as everyone on the south east side of Ltown is concerned, the lafarge dump doesn't even exist. Only the people down wind of it know exactly what is being dumped up there.
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DrSpankit
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11-30-09 8:15 AM
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Forward thinking?Windmill tech is not new or forward....GREEN planet?Lordstown accepts contaminated trash by the train car and truck load,daily for profit.Yes,a needed industry but by no stretch is it Green & planet friendly.....Real weak argument Thinker.
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Thinker
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11-30-09 8:00 AM
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Idiot OMG: Your addled brain obviously doesn't understand the concept of a "Green Planet." Windmills enable us to use less coal or oil-produced electricity, meaning more fuel left for your Toyota to run on. Everything to you is always so black and white. I live in Lordstown, and applaud our administration's forward-thinking. If you don't live here, don't worry about how we spend money. Keep to your rants about O'B, what you do best. Way to go, Lordstown!
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DrSpankit
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11-30-09 7:26 AM
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install them,up on top of La Farge Mountain St Park located in Ltown...........that be the higest spot in several counties...If the wind stops,fuel the fans with the stinking fumes leaching out of the man made volcanic dump site......
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OldManGrump2
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11-30-09 5:48 AM
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Somehow spending $130,000 to save $6600 a year in electricity doesn't make sense to me. What a waste of taxpayer dollars. Everywhere wind turbines have been installed near people, people have complained of the slow lopping noise and televison/radio intereference. These wind turbines are intended for open areas where people do not live. I don't believe Lordstown qualifies.
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bruISback
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11-30-09 5:41 AM
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plenty o hot air to go round
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LouReel
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11-30-09 12:42 AM
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Trib. you should have provided the cost/benefit ratio here and the cost of upkeep. so the village gets their money back in abt. 2 years. the federal TAXPAYERS get their money back in 20 years? ha? not including upkeep because these things won't last 20 years. so it's money down the drain at the federal level and we are BROKE.............urgh i don't blame the village but the federal gov't is OUT of CONTROL
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