Wind Industries

Homer News Story last updated at 8:46 PM on Wednesday, July 29, 2009
http://homernews.com/stories/072909/oped_4_001.shtml

The upcoming debate over what restrictions Homer should place on the installation of wind energy systems is likely to test the community's commitment to alternative sources of energy.

We talk the talk. The city's Climate Action Plan is a good example. Another is a 2007 city council resolution that states in part: "(T)he city of Homer recognizes that local action is one of the best tools available to address the threat of global climate change, and that we have a responsibility to do our part to reduce the use of non-renewable fossil fuels and reverse the trend of global warming for the well-being of current and future generations." Widespread community opposition to Homer Electric Association's involvement in the Healy coal plant provides still more evidence.

However, will we as a community walk it like we talk it when it comes to creating a climate that encourages the use of alternative sources of energy, including wind systems, by individual homeowners and businesses?

That's yet to be seen.

Ordinance 09-34, which was introduced at the council's meeting this week, sets down some guidelines for the installation of the systems. The guidelines include: A small wind energy system may be installed only on lots that are at least one acre in size. The distance from the wind system to the closest property line must not be less than 1.1 times its total height. All wires and support structures must be on the same lot as the wind system.

Public hearings on the ordinance are set for Aug. 10 and Aug. 24.

The types of guidelines being suggested seem appropriate. They're designed for safety reasons.

But if the discussion this week was any indication, the debate on the wind energy systems likely will focus more on how wind energy systems look and what they will do to Homer views.

Homer Mayor James Hornaday was blunt: "I went and looked at one and it's nothing but ugly. I can't imagine we would want this in our community."

But what looks ugly to the mayor may be what another views as a beautiful solution to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And are wind systems any uglier than electrical wires and poles?

The debate also likely will include property rights issues. Is a property owner free to erect a wind energy system if it mars the neighbors' views?

The question is appropriate and should be asked, but ultimately the question that must be answered is this: What, if anything, are we as individuals and a community willing to sacrifice to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels?

If not our views, then what? Can we keep living the same way and expect to change our energy consumption and reduce our carbon footprint?

Homer's Climate Action Plan included this statement from a 2007 University of Maryland study titled, "The U.S. Economic Impacts of Climate Change and the Costs of Inaction": "All too frequently inaction is motivated by the perceived high cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The costs of not taking on the challenges posed by climate change are frequently neglected and typically not calculated."

The interest in wind systems is high for lots of reasons: They don't harm the environment, they don't have to be connected to the electrical grid (but they can be) and they don't consume nonrenewable resources. While noise may be a problem with some systems, experts say noise varies with systems and is likely to be more of a problem when the wind speed is low.

Following a winter of out-of-sight electrical bills and a summer where residents are seeing their gasoline prices inch ever higher, the city has a great opportunity to encourage alternative sources of energy by the rules they adopt for wind systems. Some guidelines are necessary, but they shouldn't be insurmountable.