Robert and Opal Saddoris of rural Debs switched on their wind-generated electric power Tuesday. I drove to their farm Tuesday morning as 6 Star Energy was preparing to install the tower and turbine mechanism. Robert and Opal expect to generate all the power they need for their house and garage, and potentially sell the power they don’t use to Beltrami Electric Coop at the retail price of 8.8 cents to 7.8 cents per kW hour.
I was surprised at the cool reception Beltrami Electric’s marketing and communications director had to the project. He said he didn’t think it was likely that the wind turbine would pay back the cost of purchase and installation, and ertainly not, he said in the 5-7 years predicted by the Bergey company that manufactures the systems or 6 Star, the installers.
I didn’t stay long enough at the Saddoris farm to see the job finished, so Opal sent me some photos.
Yes, the project is expensive, but as David Bahr of the BSU physics department pointed out, people spend thousands on things like boats for fishing. How much per pound does that walleye actually cost when the overhead is figured in.
Alternative sources of electricity other than coal-fired boilers are sustainable and offer those who can afford them independence. Everyone, even the Beltrami Electric folks, recognize there are other reasons to invest in wind power than simply financial.
Our daughter and her husband have a small solar panel they use to power fairy lights and the outdoor radio. It’s basically an experiment. But they talk of building a house someday with solar panels supplying much of the power. I’m hoping that technology becomes affordable.
A small correction- our “fairy lights” each have their own small solar panel with two rechargeable batteries (I think AA size). They are LED lights so they don’t use much power. We use our 45watt solar panel to charge a battery in the basement which goes to an inverter upstairs which we use to power small items- the fish tank bubbler or the fountain, grind coffee and recharge cell phones, etc.