hard deadlines

Wind Fest at the turbine!

Come on down to the Portsmouth Wind Turbine for the Wind Fest from 10:30am-1:30pm today near the basketball court at Portsmouth High School.

Wind Fest at the turbine!

It's the Portsmouth Wind Turbine's first birthday, and People's Power and Light is throwing a party. This Saturday, May 22, from 10:30am-1:30pm stop by the basketball court near the turbine (at Portsmouth High School) for some clean-energy fun and games.

Get their early for free refreshments and t-shirts, and enjoy art projects, games, and folk music. You'll be able to talk with the Portsmouth Sustainable Energy Subcommittee to hear about how they made it all happen, you'll get to see the turbine up close, and you can chat with the good folks from People's Power and Light to hear how you can enroll in their GreenStart program to support more projects like this.

See you there!

Hard to believe it was just a year ago...

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Portsmouth's wind turbine generator going online, and according to figures from the Planning Dept., it is running at 110% of estimated production, and has generated electricity worth more than $550,000 for the town.

"Needless to say, we are very pleased with annual production," said assistant town planner Gary Crosby. "February, 2010 was our fourth month in a row of 100% availability with zero down time. As you can see from the figures, we have really hit our stride."

Portsmouth Economic Development Committee (PEDC) Chair Rich Talipsky agreed. "As expected, the wind turbine had some adjustment issues and operational glitches in the first six months, but after the adjustments were made, the project has exceeded all expectations both in reliability and power output."

Total Production: 3,625,950 kWH Highest 24-hr production: 36,460 kWH on January 29, 2010 Longest period of continuous production: 206+ hours between Dec 15, 2009 and December 24, 2009 Highest 24-hr average wind speed: 31.41 mph on January 25, 2010 Highest 10-minute average wind speed: 39.5 mph at 5:10 pm on January 29, 2010 Highest Wind Gust: 57.3 mph at 2:50 am on January 29, 2010

Source: Town Planning Dept.

The wind turbine was approved by a 60% majority of Portsmouth voters in 2007, and the project was planned and managed by the citizen-volunteers of the PEDC Sustainable Energy Subcommittee: Talipsky, Gary Gump, Bob Hamilton, and Doug Smith.

Reflecting on the past year, Talipsky said, "The project team members often look up at the wind turbine and say, 'How did we do it?' And, when we thought about it, we came to the realization that we had developed the right chemistry between the citizens, the Town leadership and the project contractor that enabled an honest dialogue. It was the heart of a working relationship that brought potential problems and issues to the forefront early so that they could be resolved."

Now, when you drive along East Main Road, it just looks like part of the scenery. A year later, nobody remembers the delays as shipments were held up by load limits on highways, or the March snowstorm that brought construction to a halt, or the tense moments of watching the wind speed gauge for a break to hoist the final sections.

Talipsky admits that the PEDC does miss the drama, a little. "After laboring on the project for over four years, it was hard for our team to let go of our fledgling project and turn it over to the Town for continued management. But, that was the way we had planned for it to work. The wind turbine generator was to become a normal piece of Town infrastructure managed by Town personnel with an Enterprise Fund that would provide accountability on the costs and revenues of the project."

And with a half-million dollars of revenue already in the town's coffers (minus, of course, bond payments and maintenance), the team can feel good about what they've handed over. "We could not have hoped for a better first year," said Talipsky.

See a collection of all prior coverage here.

On Monday, Gov. Donald Carieri signed legislation sponsored by Rep. David Segal which enables renewable energy producers to get more credit for the electricity they put back on the grid. The bill overrides rulings by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) which meant municipalities like Portsmouth, with their own turbine, could only offset their top 5 electric meters. According to information made available by the Governor's office, the new law allows utilities to write a check directly to the project owner or municipalities can now opt to offset their top 10 meters.

Rich Talipsky, chair of the Portsmouth Economic Development Committee (PEDC), expressed satisfaction with the legislation.

"It is amazing how complicated something gets when a simple bill gets in the hands of the PUC, as we saw with their interpretation of last year's bill that limited our credits to only that used on five Town electric meters," said Talipsky. "I hope that the bill just signed by the Governor leaves no question in the eyes of the PUC that Portsmouth will receive full credit for all the energy the wind turbine produces rather than being limited to credit on some arbitrary number of electric meters."

According to figures published on the PEDC Web site, Portsmouth's wind turbine, in the first four months of its operation, has produced over 1,000 megawatts of electricity, which translates to $150K in revenue to the town.

"Portsmouth went to a lot of trouble in establishing a Wind Turbine Enterprise Fund to make sure the turbine's costs and revenues were properly and equitably managed," said Talipsky. "The new legislation option for the power company to 'write a check' to the Town for all credits and let the Town manage the credits is exactly what we had planned on all along."

Resources:
See the original press release on RI.gov
PEDC Sustainable energy site

Jack learns about the atmosphere from David Stookey.

At least 200 people attended the alternative energy fair at the Portsmouth wind turbine today, according to organizer David Stookey. There were more than a dozen exhibitors, ranging from solar power to fuel-efficient cars to a refrigerator recycling program from National Grid.

Seriously — if you have an old refrigerator in the garage, they'll pick it up for free and give you a $30 rebate. Get the details on their CoolTurnIn site.

It was a beautiful afternoon, and when Jack and I stopped by around 3pm, there were a bunch of families there with their kids, wandering around the high school tennis court and field.

Portsmouth Economic Development Committee chair Rich Talipsky and Sustainable Energy chair Gary Gump were on hand to talk about the wind turbine.

Thanks to all the organizers: Cool Aquidneck Island, Newport's Channing Memorial Church, the RI Council of MoveOn.org, and the RI Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Resources
Cool Aquidneck Island Web site
National Grid's CoolTurnIn site

Sunday at the turbine!

This will be a busy weekend here in the East Bay. I'm sure everyone is hoping for a break in the weather this weekend, especially those aiming to attend the world-famous Bristol parade. And if you haven't read the Sakonnet Times story on two of the the special guests, it's worth a peek. Hint: They were in Times Square on August 14, 1945.

Looking for activities? Aquidneck Moms Town has put together a list, as well as the always helpful OnAquidneck.com. I find both of these sites essential for keeping up with happenings around here.

Hope everyone will also turn out for Energy Independence Day on July 5, which will be celebrated with a clean energy fair at the Portsmouth wind turbine from 1-4pm.

Sponsored by Cool Aquidneck Island, Newport's Channing Memorial Church, the RI Council of MoveOn.org, and the RI Chapter of the Sierra Club, the event will "feature tables, booths, activities, awards, and educational information about how your family can save money with clean energy." Want ways to reduce carbon emissions? Want to help Congress put some teeth in ACES? Support renewable energy at National Grid? C'mon down.

Free admission, really loose agenda (i.e., none) so bring chairs and a picnic lunch, kick back, and get an up-close look at Portsmouth's newest landmark.

And hey, the flyer sez you can "win a prize if you come without using any carbon — on foot, by bike, teleporting, whatever."

More info on the Cool Aquidneck Island Web site.

Full disclosure: Personally, I believe that teleporting may have a larger carbon footprint than suspected. The amount of energy (the tension, "t") required to pry open a wormhole between two points in spacetime is proportional to the diameter of the throat:

Cite
Morris, M.S. and Thorne, K.S., "Wormholes in spacetime and their use for interstellar travel," American Journal of Physics, 1988, Vol. 56 (May), pp 395-412. Cited and modified for English units in Time Machines, Paul Nahin, Springer-Verlag, NY, 1999, p. 501.

Portsmouth's wind turbine generator will make a spectacular backdrop for a local alternative energy festival scheduled for July 5 at from 1-4 pm at the High School. According to an e-mail sent to supporters:

Energy Independence Day is July 5th! Cool Aquidneck Island, the RI Council of MoveOn.org, Channing Green Congregation, and Sierra Club RI Chapter are hosting an energy fair from 1 to 4 PM, to highlight how we Americans can free ourselves from foreign oil dependence and reduce greenhouse gases at the same time. Fun and Games for all ages! Exhibits! Prizes! Bring your family and all your friends!

For more info, or if you want to volunteer, you can e-mail David Stookey.

See you there!