Wind turbine stands tall in East Lynn

BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL
Commercial-News

EAST LYNN August 09, 2008 11:17 pm

— Standing taller than any building in East Lynn, the 120-foot wind turbine at the small town’s north end resembles a large fan ready to send houses flying with a strong burst.
But with its lazy spin, the only thing the wind turbine sends flying is people’s imaginations as they consider it’s effect on their energy bills.
Wind turbines first caught attention in this area with the large wind farms erected outside of Bloomington-Normal and later near Fowler, Ind. Soaring home heating and cooling prices brought the turbines into reality for the average Joe.
Two turbines at one time provided energy for the Vermilion County Department of Animal Regulation and the county has spoke of using a similar set up at Vermilion Manor Nursing Home. The state awarded a rural Danville resident close to $25,000 earlier this year to help him install a wind turbine on his property.
On the north side of East Lynn, Greene Welding and Hardware Inc. is putting the wind turbine to use. Owner Rex Greene says it’s too early to see results from the wind turbine, which just went up around the first week of July.
But it’s the long-term results as much as the short-term results that make a difference in Greene’s eyes.
“Every factory has a carbon footprint,” he said. “We’re trying to make ours as small as possible.”
Raised by survivors of the Depression, Greene said his is of the mindset to conserve when possible.
“Whenever we could save a dollar on the lights or on something, we took the advantage,” he said. “We paid a little bit more up front for higher efficiency that going to pay itself off in the long run.
“It’s being an asset instead of a liability.”
It took Greene about a year to decide upon bringing in a wind turbine, which is used by the factory and office facilities on his property. Greene Welding runs for about nine hours a day while during the other hours, Greene said, the wind turbine is putting energy back on the power line and selling it back to the power company, which pays him just under half of what he pays them.
It takes 12 mph winds to start the blades rotating and at a constant 15 mph Greene said. With that running and the money paid back by the power company, it will balance out his power bill.
Greene predicted his turbine would be the first of many starting to go up around the area, and his forecast isn’t far off. In 2007, the United States was first in the number of installed wind turbines. It was second in cumulative totals around the world.
Both towns and school districts in the area are considering the pluses of using the wind to decrease spending on power.
Across the state line in Warren County, Ind., Superintendent Ralph Shrader is in the midst of sorting through the potential numbers a wind turbine could bring to Seeger Memorial High School and Warren Central Elementary School.
A study looking at the ramifications of installing a wind turbine is currently under way for the school district, and the numbers already look promising.
But the concept still is a little amazing for the superintendent.
“I read about it more and more, different schools doing it,” Shrader said. “If you’d asked me 10 years ago if we’d be discussing it, I’d say there’s no way we’d even be talking about this.”
But the evidence is hard to ignore. Figures provided to the school show a potential savings of $2.5 million at the end of 25 years. It is expected to take only 10 years to handle the price tag for the wind turbine.
And Warren County, Ind., is not alone. As many as eight other school districts in that state are looking at wind as a potential energy source.
“For schools, our primary function is education,” Shrader said. “As cost continues to rise in all areas, we have to look for a new way to fund education.”
The wind turbine circling above Greene’s Welding has done more than stir up the wind. It’s gotten the ideas flowing in the minds of Dave Downing of the Potomac Water Department and village board member Roger Porter. Both visited the East Lynn location and have their own thoughts about what wind power can do for the village.
The water department rings up about $900 in electricity bills each month, Porter said. A wind turbine would do well to help negate that cost on the village.
“I think it’s the coming thing,” Porter said. “People are going to try to utilize wind, solar. People are going to have to start using part of Mother Nature.”
Although the money saved is enticing, Porter admits the money spent to erect a wind turbine is daunting. Greene spent, overall, close to $100,000 to get his running.
Without a grant from the state of Illinois, Porter said the idea would be tough to bring to reality.
While the numbers are promising for Seeger schools, Greene isn’t convinced wind turbines are for everyone.
“If you’ve got a constant load, they’re pretty justifiable,” he said. “Hog operations are pretty justifiable, cattle operations. Farmer, no, because you only run a high amount of energy during the fall and there’s not a lot of wind in the fall. You’re not getting the full benefit of it.”

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