Turbine discussion set for Aug. 19

Scituate has been working to put at wind turbine at the wastewater treatment plant for years, but recent events, including increasing energy prices and a change in state law, have made a turbine potentially even more attractive to town officials.

Next week, in anticipation of funds for a turbine being on the warrant of an upcoming Town Meeting, Scituate will host an information session for residents interested in learning about the project.

To help residents understand the possible effects of wind power, including the visual and auditory impact of the potential turbines, the town's renewable energy committee and the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust are hosting an open house Tuesday, Aug 19, at 7 p.m. in the Scituate High School auditorium. The open house will include a presentation by wind energy specialist Charles McClelland and discussions of the feasibility study.

In early July, Gov. Deval Patrick signed the Green Communities Act, aimed at promoting clean and renewable energy. Because the act included a provision allowing for towns with wind turbines to sell power back into the power grid, it greatly increased the long-term fiscal benefit of adding a wind turbine to Scituate's wastewater treatment plant.

Because of the provision, called virtual metering, the feasibility study estimates that the town could make just under $3 million profit, in today's dollars, over the next 20 years. Without virtual metering, the maximum would have been approximately $2.1 million. The study, completed last spring, estimates the fiscal benefit of the turbine from $569,504 to $3 million.

"That's the key, that really is the key," Scituate Renewable Energy Committee member Bill Limbacher said of virtual metering.

Each of those estimates, however, assume that the town owns its own turbine, that it builds the largest turbine available and, most importantly, that the turbine is approved at an upcoming Town Meeting. According to Limbacher, the town might not be able to get a device on its own, since it would only need one and turbines are usually sold more than one at a time.

Due to the virtual metering, any excess energy created by the treatment plant's turbine could be used to lower costs of powering the town's other buildings. Before, the town was tied to placing a turbine near the treatment plant, where the energy would be immediately used, but now it would be free to put it anywhere it is viable.

However, because Scituate has spent time and money studying the wind patterns at the treatment plant, as well as the potential auditory and visual effects of a plant turbine, that would still be the location of the town's first proposed turbine.

In June, when Limbacher presented the wind study to selectmen, board member John Danehey and board chairman Rick Murray suggested that the town could use multiple turbines to lower energy costs.

This week, Murray said he was still looking toward the possibility of adding multiple turbines in future years.

"On my part, too, once we get this immediate project finalized, I think we should immediately begin looking at additional locations for further wind power," he said. "We have an opportunity to take great advantage of our town's natural resources in a way that will simultaneously lower our energy costs and do so in the ‘right' (non carbon footprint) fashion."

The town has been considering renewable energy for at least the last three years, but according to Limbacher, the push has picked up momentum recently as energy prices climbed.

"The reality is, you see it yourself; your electric bill isn't going down," he said.

According to Limbacher, while three years ago the committee had little idea what steps it should take, it now is part of a region-wide movement to move toward renewable energy. Limbacher said that as other local towns, such as Cohasset, face hurdles at the same times as Scituate, they learn from each other. And now that the state allows virtual metering, he said, many other towns along the coast are going to jump on board.

"The reality is, it's a common sense thing," he said

In Scituate, Limbacher said the reaction to the turbine has been overwhelmingly positive. An informal poll taken at Heritage Days was "virtually 100 percent" in favor.

A study of sound, which was released after the feasibility study, also estimates the turbine's impact on the neighbors. Because of the noise already created by the wastewater treatment plant, the sound from the turbine would increase noise at the property line by 40 decibels.

"It's not much more than whisper at the property line," Limbacher said.

Visually, the feasibility study stated that the turbine wouldn't block many views.

"The nearby residences to the east of the (treatment plant) will likely have a largely obscured view of the turbine given the tall trees in the heavily wooded area," according to the study. "This will also be true for many houses in Scituate, as most inland lots are wooded or surrounded by wooded terrain."

The feasibility study includes illustrations of the turbine as seen from many vantage points throughout the town, and on many of them the turbine is barely visible. Limbacher said the illustrations were displayed at Heritage Days and the turbines had to be pointed out.

"We had to put an arrow to show where it was," he said. "It ends up, for the most part when you look at it you only see a part of the tower and the blades."

In the feasibility study, the town considered two locations for the possible turbine. However, one location, on the treatment plant property, is more likely than the second, which on community preservation committee-owned land to the west of the plant. Because that land is designated for conservation, the town would have to prove, first to the CPC and then to the state, that it had no other options for the turbine.

Limbacher said the hope is that the town would be able to answer most of its questions, including those they've asked the state about the recently passed law, in time to include a turbine on the warrant of either this fall's special Town Meeting or the annual Town Meeting next spring.

"Our overall goal here is to take this to Town Meeting, ideally at a special Town Meeting this autumn, for approval so we can get cracking right away," Murray said. "In essence, every day we don't take advantage of what we have before us is costing us money."