Will town pull plug on wind turbine idea?

BRISTOL -- In April 2004, Parks and Recreation Director Walter V. Burke put forward a rough proposal to build a wind turbine at the Town Beach and use it to power lights at the sports fields and offices there.

The members of the Town Council thought the idea was worth exploring and formed a committee to look into erecting a municipal turbine at the beach or at another site in Bristol.

In the two years since then, Portsmouth Abbey, just across the Mount Hope Bridge, has put up a turbine to power its private school, and the town of Hull, in Massachusetts -- which served as Bristol's original inspiration -- has installed its second turbine.

Now, council member Kenneth A. Marshall, who sits on the town's wind energy committee, believes it's time for Bristol to either move forward with a plan or direct its efforts elsewhere.

Marshall wants the council to hold a nonbinding referendum during the Nov. 7 general elections to decide whether the town should invest in a turbine.

If voters cast ballots in favor of a turbine, the town would more seriously consider devoting money to the project. If not, then the council could drop the plan, Marshall said.

"This is just to give us the general consensus in town," he said. "If people don't want it, then let's not waste any more time. If people are for it, then let's get a shovel in the ground."

Marshall first raised the idea of holding a vote at a council meeting late last month. His fellow councilors did not make a decision on the referendum that night.

Council member Mary A. Parella said at the time that the council needed more information on the available options before going to the voters. She specifically asked for answers to questions about the possible cost savings to the town and the use of the electricity generated by a turbine.

"We need to be careful about the question and frame it in the right way," she said. "The last thing we want to do is go out with a haphazard question."

The council voted to continue the matter, and Marshall said it may be discussed at its meeting Wednesday.

Parella and Marshall both said they want to get the results of a survey on wind energy carried out by Lefteris Pavlides, a professor of architecture at Roger Williams University. Pavlides, an expert on wind power, served as a consultant to the $1.2 million project at Portsmouth Abbey and has been working with Bristol since Burke first talked about his plan.

Pavlides surveyed Bristol residents in May, asking them what they thought about putting a turbine in town. The survey was funded by a grant from the Rhode Island Energy Office.

Marshall said that the survey's findings have yet to be officially released.

Marshall, for one, said he supports investing in a turbine, a project which would cost more than a million dollars but would also likely qualify for a state grant.

The state helped finance the Abbey's project in part, having awarded a $450,000 grant to the institution from the Rhode Island Renewable Energy Fund.

The state is willing to devote more money to alternative sources of energy after Governor Carcieri pledged during his State of the State address in January to have 15 percent of Rhode Island's energy come from wind power. If that goal is met, turbines would generate as much as 150 megawatts of electricity, enough power for about 150,000 homes.

In Bristol, a turbine could be used to cover the cost of powering the town's streetlights. Last year, the town paid $190,000 for electricity for those lights, said Marshall. It could also be used to provide electricity to Town Hall or other municipal buildings.

"If we knew there was oil in the ground under Bristol, we'd have no problem digging it up," Marshall said. "But when we know there's free energy in the wind, why can't we use it?"

If the council decides to hold a nonbinding referendum, it must forward the question to the Secretary of State's office for inclusion on the ballot. That deadline is Aug. 9.

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