Every penny counts to retired ranchers Charles Bracewell and Larry Dean. And when electric bills started taking a bite out of their budget, the two decided to do something about it.
They hired a local company to install two wind generators 45 feet above their five-acre ranch on Purgatory Road near Canyon Lake. And since the turbines started spinning last week, they have been generating their own power and literally are turning back their electric meter.
“I don’t like electric bills,” Bracewell said. While he is all for “going green” and lessening his impact on the environment, putting up the windmills is more about saving money in the long run, he said.
The retired College Station ranchers hired Randall Galan of 4 Winds Energy in Seguin to install the turbines at a cost of about $16,000 apiece.
“It’s a big investment, but long term they’re designed to pay for themselves,” said Galan, who got into the wind business in February after putting up his own wind generator at his home in Poteet. He has offices in Seguin and is a dealer for Southwest Wind Power, a company based in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Putting up a wind turbine doesn’t mean getting off the grid, Galan said. Wind generators simply feed the grid and lower bills.
A windmill requires gusts of over 7 mph to turn. When the wind is blowing strong, the system draws power from the turbines. When there is no wind, the system draws power from the electrical grid. Whenever the wind picks up again and the turbines produce power above what is needed, the system is designed to bank those extra kilowatts and literally turns the
electric meter backward.
An average 2,000-square-foot home might use from 9,000 to 13,000 kilowatts per month in summer months, meaning bills above $1,000, Galan said. Installing a wind generator means savings of 30 to 80 percent.
Turbines pay for themselves in four to six years, he said.
“Your electricity is never going to go down,” Galan said. “You basically shield yourself from cost hikes in the future.”
The recent sluggish economy has slowed business some and potential customers are put off by the high startup costs, Galan said, but he has had a lot of local interest recently.
Galan has installed five windmills so far this year, and said there are a handful of companies across Central Texas bidding alongside him.
Officials with New Braunfels Utilities, however, said power-generating devices such as wind turbines and solar panels are rare among power users.
There is a lot of local interest in wind energy, according to Gretchen Reuwer, communications manager with NBU, but the high cost of wind generators turns many consumers off.
While NBU offers rebates on efficient washers and dryers, low-flow toilets and efficient landscaping plans, currently there are no rebates for either wind generators or solar panels, Reuwer said. As prices go down and consumer interest in efficient technologies such as wind and solar increases, however, that could change, she added.
“They’re curious,” Dean said of the many neighbors and friends who have been stopping by the Purgatory Road home to learn about the unique windmills, their curved blades designed to reduce noise.
Galan installs wind generators that stand as high as 70 feet to stay above high trees or wind-blocking land features. There is no maintenance or fees and owners monitor the performance of each turbine online with a metering program that shows how much electricity is being generated and how a home’s carbon footprint is shrinking.
There are no special permit requirements in rural areas, Galan said, just an inspection by the utility company and installation of a fail-safe switch.
Many customers fund their wind generators with home improvement or home equity loans. There is a 30-percent federal tax credit for installing a wind generator and grants available for schools and non-profit organizations, Galan said.
But that doesn’t help Bracewell and Dean, who are both on fixed incomes and paying little in the way of taxes.
“They shouldn’t penalize people for going green,” Dean said, asking why there are no direct incentives or a full exemption from sales tax.
Galan’s wind generators are designed to work for more than 20 years, which is good news for the retired ranchers.
“We’re the guinea pigs,” Dean said. And as their windmills spin, they are banking on years of savings down the road.
