Officials plan for residential-windmill boom
Cambria Township wants to be ready when residents who are fed up with rising energy prices start turning to small wind power.
Residents won't be constructing giant Gamesa-style industrial turbines, but smaller versions that - in the right place - can power homes, farms, even small businesses.
For the average household, such wind turbines are permitted as "premises use," meaning that they operate to supply a single household and not to supply electricity to others.
Cambria Township will join Portage and Jackson townships by adopting a residential wind turbine ordinance, although no small turbines have been erected so far.
The action was requested by Cambria's planning commission in March, and last week the supervisors agreed to advertise an ordinance for adoption.
"The philosophy of the Cambria Township Planning Commission is to stay on the cutting edge and abreast of current activities throughout our general area and statewide," the commission said in a letter to supervisors.
"Residential windmill use is already on the scene in our general area, and it behooves us to address this matter before it comes before us in an actual permit request," the commission said.
Although a copy of the proposed Cambria Township ordinance is not yet available, the ordinance will be modeled after those already passed in Portage and Jackson townships, according to Cambria Solicitor Dennis Govachini.
Those measures require a 100-foot setback and are aimed at turbines 100 feet tall or less - considerably smaller than the commercial wind turbines that have caused controversy in some areas.
A $1,500 annual fee is charged only if power generated by the windmill is sold to a power company.
Portage Township was the first to adopt a measure.
"We were one of four municipalities in Gamesa's commercial wind turbine project (Allegheny Wind Farm)," Solicitor C.J. Webb said, "and as part of that, there seemed to be inquiries for small, residential windmills.
"It became obvious that we had no regulations for them, so we drafted an ordinance to handle the situation. But I don't know of any that have gone up since then, possibly because the cost of the smaller ones is more than people generally realize," he said.
The cost of residential turbines depends on the kilowatts needed.
The range is between $12,000 and $55,000, depending on size, according to the American Wind Energy Association, a nonprofit advocacy group in Washington, D.C.
A 100-kilowatt turbine could power a large school, and last year about 7,000 were sold throughout the nation, the group says.
They are shorter - usually less than 100 feet tall - and less noisy than commercial windmills.
Jackson Township, which passed a private-use windmill ordinance in March, has not yet issued any windmill permits, township Manager Dave Hirko said.
One resident wanted a 50-foot setback from neighboring properties, rather than the required 100-foot setback.
Supervisors opted for the 100 feet, saying the resident could apply for a variance, but Hirko said they have not received that application.
Cambria Township's proposed ordinance would require a $1,500 permit fee and a $500 application fee. It also includes a 100-foot setback.
No date is set for a vote.