Wind Turbines Rustling Up A Conundrum
Town weighs scenery against clean energy
(4/24/2008) With prices of crude oil reaching new highs and advances in technology nudging solar power and other nonpolluting energy sources out of their “alternative” slots, the idea of harnessing wind for energy production here on Long Island’s eastern end is taking hold.
Greg Zwirko, an East Hampton architect, applied to the town three years ago for approval to place two small wind turbines on his house on Shore Drive West on Napeague. According to the town code, installation of “wind energy conversion systems” requires a special use permit to be issued by the town board. The board must consider whether the system would pose a safety hazard, hurt the “natural environment and character of the community,” or cause “either excessive noise or radio and television interference to adjoining property owners.”
But faced with Mr. Zwirko’s proposal, and anticipating that others might follow, the board decided that the installation of wind energy systems should be reviewed by the planning board under a set of specific guidelines. A change to the town code was drafted last June but never acted on, leaving Mr. Zwirko — and not his energy-producing windmills — well, twisting in the wind.
A member of the American Institute of Architects Peconic Chapter, Mr. Zwirko and his group issued a statement in 2006 endorsing wind-generated power, along with all renewable energy concepts. “It is urgent that we begin to take, at the very least, a giant green step forward,” the group wrote in a release.
Mr. Zwirko said he pushes green design for his clients, and, as far back as 1980, he installed a solar-panel system on a house where he lived along the ocean dunes.
Last year, he revised his proposal for his Shore Drive house, calling for only one “mini wind generator” attached to the edge of his screened porch and rising about 16 feet from his 12-foot roof. Because there are few trees in the sandy bayfront neighborhood, access to the wind is unimpeded, and the mount for the turbine’s rotor blades could be kept lower than is normally required.
“I’m trying to keep mine as modest as possible,” Mr. Zwirko said.
The United States Department of Energy measures wind power on a scale of one to seven, with seven denoting the highest average wind strength. New York State is ranked 15th in the country in terms of wind energy potential, and areas along the Atlantic Coast are considered good candidates for putting up electricity-generating wind turbines.
Wind strength measurements taken by the Department of Energy at Montauk Point over five years indicated a Class 4 average annual wind power there at 164 feet above ground. The data also showed, however, that geographical features, nearby buildings, or trees and other vegetation can substantially reduce wind power at levels closer to the ground.
Half the land mass in this country has sufficient wind to make a small turbine viable, according to the American Wind Energy Association, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit advocacy group. Any areas with Class 2 winds, or annual wind speeds averaging 9.8 to 11.5 miles per hour, may be suitable for power generation, the group says.
According to the association, harnessing just 10 percent of the wind potential in the 10 windiest states would eliminate a major source of acid rain and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a cause of global warming, by almost a third nationwide.
East Hampton first moved to regulate the construction of wind systems 28 years ago when Cile Downs, a resident of Springs-Fireplace Road in Springs, applied to the zoning board for a variance allowing her to put up a 40-foot-high windmill. Her request was denied. Two years later, Donald Miller, who lives on Accabonac Road, got approval from the zoning board of appeals to put up a 67-foot-high windmill. That project was short-lived after encountering problems in obtaining a building permit, and technical difficulties.
In 1984, the owners of Stony Hill Stables in Amagansett proposed a 100-foot windmill to provide electricity for the house, barns, stables, and indoor riding building on the 10-acre property.
Under the proposed town code regulations, to be taken up by the town board again next month, a “wind energy conversion system” may be constructed to power only the structures on the land where the system is installed.
A two-tier review system would require minor site plan review by the planning board, and architectural review board approval for lower-level applications proposing systems to be constructed on the roof of a house or accessory building. They would be limited to a maximum height of 51/2 feet above the highest point of the roofline and a maximum rotor diameter of 5 feet. The rotor blades would have to be at least 10 feet from ground level, and no guy wires could be used. No more than two rotors would be allowed on a parcel of land less than 30,000 square feet, and no more than four rotors would be allowed on larger lots.
For “tier two” systems, a special permit from the planning board and architectural review board approval would be needed. The larger systems could have ground-mounted towers up to 40 feet high, or roof-mounted turbines projecting up to 10 feet above a structure, with a minimum height to the bottom of a rotor blade of 15 feet. The diameter of the rotor blades could be no more than 15 feet. Up to four ground-mounted towers could be allowed on a property larger than 11/2 acres. The regulations also call for the wind systems to be concealed “to the greatest extent possible.”
The American Wind Energy Association, which recommends a minimum property size of one acre as suitable for wind turbine sites, says the turbines must be mounted at least 30 feet above “any physical wind barriers,” such as trees or buildings, that are within 300 feet. The group’s Web site notes that most small wind turbine manufacturers recommend mounting turbines at least 65 feet high, and says that “towers from 80 to 120 feet tall may be optimal.”
“Wind energy is a very productive form of renewable energy,” Gordian Raacke, the executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island, an East Hampton-based nonprofit that promotes sustainable energy, said Tuesday, and is the least costly of alternative energy sources, save perhaps hydropower. “Wind power, on the national and international scene, is the big winner,” he said.
However, he warned that the efficacy of a turbine “is very dependent on the location and the specifics,” such as the average wind speed, geographical site, and surrounding land and structures. And, he said, “If the tower isn’t high enough, it will be just a lawn ornament.”
In order to harness the full power of the wind, Mr. Raacke recommends that the turbine blades extend “at least 50 feet above any obstruction in the neighborhood.” A 40-foot tower in line with the proposed town code limits “is not going to do it,” he said.
The proposed town regulations on the systems were discussed at a recent meeting of East Hampton’s energy advisory committee, of which he is a member, Mr. Raacke said, and he is reviewing the group’s details with an eye to making recommendations to the town board. “We need to make sure that we don’t make this overly restrictive,” he said, while also safeguarding residential areas. “We want to encourage renewable energy in East Hampton, but we need to make it work.”
Among the concerns raised when wind turbines are proposed are their visual impacts and noise. Improved technology has cut down on noise from the moving rotors, Mr. Raacke said, which is “typically canceled out” by ambient sounds. A typical residential wind system makes less noise than the average washing machine, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
Neighbors of lots where wind turbines are proposed have also expressed concern about “shadow flicker,” or the moving shadow that can be cast by the spinning blades. The area where a shadow will fall can be calculated ahead of time and problems avoided by setting the turbine far enough away from adjacent lots.
The proposed East Hampton regulations call for keeping all wind energy equipment back from property lines in an amount equal to the height of the system, or at least as far back as the setbacks on the property for accessory structures.
Interference with radio, TV, and cellphone signals is not a problem with small residential wind turbines, according to industry information, because they are made of nonmetallic substances and are too small to create electromagnetic interference. The potential for birds and bats to be killed flying into a wind turbine can be minimized by avoiding placing them in migratory routes.
According to the wind energy association, a residential wind turbine can lower a household electricity bill by 50 to 90 percent. For typical houses, systems capable of generating between 5 and 10 kilowatts are installed, at a cost of about $40,000. Depending on the winds in an area and the cost of buying electricity, such a system could pay for itself in energy savings in between 6 and 15 years, about half the system’s lifetime.
A wind turbine can be connected to existing home electrical wiring. After some lobbying efforts, Mr. Raacke said, the Long Island Power Authority designated wind energy systems, like solar electricity systems, eligible for its “net metering” program, whereby those with individual energy-producing equipment can hook up to the LIPA grid and earn credit by providing it with their excess energy. He said he is pushing LIPA to also provide rebates to those who install residential wind turbines.
Two wind energy incentive programs are offered by New York State, a rebate on installing certain turbine systems through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and a real property tax exemption.
In 2003, Mr. Raacke and Scott Chaskey of the Peconic Land Trust, who runs Amagansett’s Quail Hill Farm, had proposed erecting a wind turbine at the farm but withdrew their proposal in the face of opposition by the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee. A LIPA proposal in 2000 to erect three 50-kilowatt, 100-foot windmills at Camp Hero in Montauk was similarly rebuffed.
Since then, 10-kilowatt wind turbine systems made by Bergey, an Oklahoma company, have been installed and are providing electricity at the Stony Brook Southampton campus and at Brookhaven Town Hall, Mr. Raacke said.
Meanwhile, “I’m just waiting patiently,” Mr. Zwirko said Tuesday. “I don’t know what else to do.” He has already installed a solar cell system on his house that covers about two-thirds of his energy needs, and he plans, as an experiment, to plant a mini rooftop garden and install a rain-collection system. Residents, he said, have to adopt green living habits “on all fronts” and reduce their carbon footprints. “We have to get on board,” he said.
A town code that allows wind energy systems to be installed will not only benefit him, Mr. Zwirko said. “We have to figure out a system that works for the public. We have such an incredible location” for wind energy, he said.
According to Councilwoman Julia Prince, there have been recent inquiries from two other town residents interested in harnessing energy from the wind: one who, like Mr. Zwirko, is contemplating a windmill system at his house, and a Montauk resident thinking about the potential for a “wind farm” that could distribute energy.