Legislation is beginning to address obstacles to residential turbines, but cost, regulations remain a challenge.

While plans by Siemens AG to build a wind turbine nacelle plant in Hutchinson are expected to boost large wind farm growth in the Midwest, a number of recent developments at the local, state and national levels could also help power the expansion of residential-level wind generation in Hutchinson and Kansas.

Two of the primary issues that have held back development of home or community-based turbines, industry experts say, are cost and regulation. Recent legislation has addressed each in part, but barriers remain.

Cost vs. benefit

Installing wind turbines to provide power for a home or small business is becoming more economical as technology progresses, but it still often doesn't "pencil out," said Dan Nagengast of the Kansas Rural Center.

"It might cost $16,000 or $17,000 overall to put in a small turbine," Nagengast said, "which might save you about 300 bucks a year. Kansas really has cheap energy, if you look around the nation."

At that rate, it would take more than 50 years in electricity savings to pay for the investment.

Energy costs, however, continue to rise and they will probably continue to do so, Nagengast noted. Also, larger turbines, though more expensive, offer proportionally larger savings.

For the past several years, residents, under the Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit, could apply for a tax credit for up to 30 percent of the cost of buying and installing renewable energy systems, including solar water heaters, photovoltaic cells, wind turbines, fuel cells or geothermal heat pumps. The credits had caps, however, at $2,000 for solar systems and $4,000 for wind.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act removed those caps and also now allows credits exceeding a taxpayer's liability for the year of installation to be carried over to the succeeding tax year. The home served by the system does not have to be the taxpayer's principal residence.

There is a separate federal grant and loan program for commercial or agricultural industries that install renewable energy systems. The Rural Energy for America Program offers a grant of up to 25 percent of the system cost and a guaranteed loan, which, when combined with the grant, can cover up to 75 percent of the project cost, up to $25 million.

One caveat, said Dorothy Barnett, director of statewide relations with the Climate and Energy Project, is that the system can't be used to power a farm home, only the farm operations or rural business.

Net metering

Other new funding legislation is a net metering law adopted by Kansas lawmakers as part of the compromise bill to open the way for Sunflower Electric to build a new coal plant at Holcomb. It requires the state's investor-owned utilities to offer a one-for-one trade to those generating their own electricity.

The way it works is that customers with a generator install a bilateral meter, which allows energy to move both ways - on and off the electricity supply grid. So if generating excess energy, it can go onto the utility's electric grid, for use by the electric company. Then if there is a need in the home for power, it can draw off the grid.

The homeowner receives credit for the electricity sent out in the form of a deduction from their monthly bill. The utility may void any credit remaining at the end of the year. While the system doesn't require the utility to pay the homeowner cash for the electricity generated, it adds more value to the energy offset than simply reducing the electricity for which the homeowner is paying.

Another significant benefit, said Bill Smalley, of Topeka-based wind turbine installation company Smalley Heating and Cooling, is that being on the grid eliminates the need for maintaining a large bank of batteries to store power from the generator.

"Co-generating has dropped the price dramatically because of battery banks you had to put in," Smalley said. "They took a huge amount of money to keep going. They're really high maintenance and chances are you have to replace them about every three years."

The maximum capacity of generating equipment allowed on net metering for use by customer generators is 25 kilowatts for residential customers and 200 kilowatts for others, and the utility has to pay only until customer-generated power reaches a certain percentage of its peak demand.

The catch to net metering is that it applies only to investor-owned utilities (IOUs), which in Kansas include Westar, KCPL and Empire Electric. Those utilities serve primarily urban areas, where it's much more difficult to find a site for wind turbines.

"Those served by municipalities or electric cooperatives won't have that option unless the co-op chooses to provide it," said Abbie Hodgson, director of communications for the Kansas Corporation Commission.

Rural returns

"We like the thoughts of wind turbines, but are opposed to law," said Bob Hall, manager of Ark Valley Electric Cooperative, saying it's unfair to the majority of its member customers and unreliable as an energy source.

Hall notes there are 11 customers on the utility's system who have turbines - yet only three are actively operating.

There is a federal metering law rural utilities do have to comply with, which requires the companies to credit consumers "150 percent of avoided fuel costs."

"The current law requires us to pay not what we pay for electricity, but 150 percent of what we pay," Hall said. "That's grossly unfair to our members who have to pay to keep the lines in the air. It ignores the fact it costs millions to keep our lines up, which we can't run without. In effect, they're not paying their fair share to keep our lines in the air."

The rate is roughly equivalent to the wholesale rate of electricity. Under the new state law for investor utilities, electric companies must pay closer to retail rates for the excess electricity, which could be three to four times higher than the wholesale rate.

"I just want the full value of the kilowatt I put on the grid," Smalley said. "They use it all day and then return it to me. They charge the customer 7.5 cents per kilowatt, but give me 2 cents. I just want my kilowatt back."

It will probably require federal legislation mandating a 20 percent renewable energy standard to get cooperatives and municipalities to participate in net metering, Smalley said.

Liability requirements set by some rural utilities for customers who co-generate are even more restricting to rural wind development than net metering, Smalley said.

"They're putting a $2 million liability policy on wind and solar to co-generate," he said. "That costs the customer anywhere from $200 to $400 per year for insurance. We don't need that. They are all UL (Underwriters Laboratories) certified.... In Missouri, the requirement is $100,000 liability coverage."

Zoned out

Another potentially significant change that could result in more small wind development is modifications to zoning ordinances.

"I don't sell anything in Kansas because there are so many ordinances that prevent it," said Terry Galyon, who operates TLG Windpower east of Nickerson on 82nd Avenue. "There are a couple of Skystreams up at the Sterling and Fairfield middle schools, but they were put up without having to meet city code.

"All the little cities and counties need to change their ordinances on wind generators for there to be any difference at all," Galyon said. "If that changes, Kansas has got plenty of wind for it."

Hays and Barton County adopted new zoning regulations for wind in the past 18 months, but both were in response to desires to regulate turbine placement.

"We have a unique situation because of the Cheyenne Bottoms," said Barton County Administrator Richard Boeckman. "For about a mile around the bottoms we have a 'no build zone.' That was designed so that we don't result in what the Department of Wildlife calls 'kills.' We did not want to have kills with migratory birds."

For the area two miles beyond that, Boeckman said, the area is conditionally permitted, meaning a permit would have to be approved by the county. In the rest of the county, the regulations "are pretty liberal," Boeckman said. Each community in the county has its own zoning regulations.

The city of Hutchinson is among those now exploring ways to open up regulations.

The Hutchinson Planning Department hosted a stakeholders meeting two weeks ago to take comment on proposed changes, not just for wind, but all renewable energy classifications, including biofuels, solar panels, small wind energy and commercial or utility grade wind systems.

City Planning Director Nancy Scott expects city leaders will take up the proposals - along with many other proposed changes to zoning codes - June 9.

The regs, drafted by consultant John Riggs, of Riggs Associates in Lindsborg, define "small wind" as having a rated capacity of less than 100 kilowatts and "intended primarily to reduce onsite consumption of utility power."

Limits simplified

The proposed code sets tower heights on property of one-half to one acre in size to a maximum 80 feet tall. For property of an acre or more, there is no height restriction except those set by the FAA for air space. The code does not, however, address properties under a half acre, which most lots within the city limits would fall into.

The new code simplifies setbacks required for turbine systems, which were previously set specifically to rotor sizes, and tower heights, which were based on the height of nearby buildings or trees.

"We can always have exceptions to the height requirements, but it does take some acreage," Scott said.

The new setbacks - the distance turbines must be from specific boundaries - would be the tower height for the distance from roads and rights-of-way, and the tower plus rotor blade height for property lines and distances from neighboring dwellings. No part of the structure, including guy wire anchors, can be closer than 10 feet to the property line.

"One of the things we talked about is that we want to be sure what we do is progressive," Scott said. "Many will not go in every location, but we definitely want to create opportunities for wind turbines."

The maximum noise level for turbines is proposed at no more than 50 decibels, measured from the nearest neighboring home, though that can be exceeded on certain occasions.

Installing turbines will require a building permit, plus a special use permit if within a residential zone, and certification by Kansas engineers that the equipment meets industry and safety standards.

"In most communities, it's helpful to establish some guidelines," Smalley said. "You don't want to infringe on privacy or obstruct someone's view. You want to be neighbor-friendly."