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Bent Conservation District generating farmstead wind powerColorado For many years, the Bent Conservation District has promoted the conservation and wise use of traditional natural resources such as soil, water, air, plants, and animals. Knowing that the cost of energy and electricity would probably continue to increase, the district decided to expand into and to promote the use of small farmstead wind turbines for energy conservation. To assist them with this new initiative, the CD applied for a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant, which is part of the NRCS Environment Quality Incentives Program in 2007. The goal of the project is to increase awareness of alternative energy for on-farm use, to promote the utilization of wind to supplement commercial electricity, and to expand the use of wind to power farmsteads. Originally nine producers had feasibility studies done on their farmsteads. The studies included wind speed data from the Lamar airport and two years worth of electricity bills. Of these nine, four producers decided to go ahead and install turbines. In order to participate in the project, the four producers had to meet five criteria. The producer had to meet EQIP criteria, the turbine had to be installed on a working farm or ranch, the producer had to agree to host field tours on his/her demonstration site, the producer had to be willing to participate in informational meetings and serve as a spokesperson for the project, and the producer had to be located within the Bent CD. In addition, each producer had to agree to maintain records of cost data for electrical use and maintain his/her turbine in good working order. Through the CIG funding the district was able to provide 50 percent of the total cost to install the turbines. Lorraine Schleining decided to participate in the program because she believes that in years to come, the turbine will provide a cost savings. Lance Verhoeff installed a turbine because he uses a lot of electricity for his house, shop, and granaries. He added that if it pays for itself, he will be happy. Laura Cline is participating because the information from the district made the turbine project study pretty enticing. She also believes the turbine will help reduce her family's electric bill and be more energy efficient. Guy Wagner said he is participating for the same reasons as his three fellow producers. After the four producers had feasibility studies completed, they then decided the size of the turbine based on information the studies provided. Schleining and Wagner have smaller turbines made by the same company. Verhoeff and Cline have larger turbines from the same company. Both types of turbines kick in and begin generating electricity when the wind speed hits eight miles per hour (mph). Some differences in the two types are that the smaller ones will produce electricity up to 30 mph while the larger ones will produce electricity up to 54 mph. The turbines will shut down immediately once the wind speeds exceed these numbers. The smaller ones have 33-inch blades and no tail. The wind comes from behind the blades to make it turn. The larger ones have 14-foot blades and a tail. The larger turbines face into the wind to turn. The smaller turbine towers are 70 feet. The larger towers are 105 feet. Southeast Colorado Power Association has worked closely with all four producers to make sure the turbines were installed and grounded correctly. In the future, power companies will be required to have 20 percent of their electricity produced by renewable energy sources, so as part of the program SECPA is providing each producer with renewable energy credits. Since the power company's linemen will help with turbine maintenance, each producer is required to carry extra liability insurance. The process in which the producers see if their turbines are producing more energy than they are using is called net metering. On an annual basis, the power company will compare the electricity each turbine has produced to the amount of electricity each producer has used. If the producers have used less energy than they produced, they will get a check for the difference from the company. All four producers agree that assessing the energy savings will take time. In fact, they all agree that it may take a year of recordkeeping to get an accurate assessment. Data showing cost benefits, maintenance issues and cost, and the producers' overall experience will be compiled. Partners in the project are the Bent CD, NRCS, USDA Rural Development, SECPA, iCAST (International Collaboration for Advancing Security Technology), and the four producers. After only four months of use, Cline noted "I encourage anyone to do it (install a turbine). It's very green energy."
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