Wind power runs into resistance

Kyle Christensen moved to Utah last spring from a community in California where solar power was big. He wanted to bring that energy mindset to his company Western Botanicals Inc., which pulled up stakes on the West Coast in 2006 for a cheaper home in Spanish Fork.

"I was kind of turned on by the fact that you could do alternative energy and it could save you real money," said Christensen. He is co-owner of the $3 million business with fewer than 20 employees who help manufacture and distribute herbal medicines for Western Botanicals.

Christensen sold his business partner Randy Giboney on the idea of putting up wind turbines on site that would provide clean energy and help defray his company's power costs. Their ideal setup would mean being able to tie into the area's existing utility grid, but there's been no quick trip to that end.

"It's not as simple as people want to make it," said Spanish Fork Mayor Joe Thomas.

The process of tying into the grid has to go through the Utah Municipal Power Agency, which for years has provided electricity to six cities in Utah County, including Spanish Fork, via several sources in and around Utah, including coal-fired power plants and the Glen Canyon Dam.

"We encourage wind turbines," said UMPA general manager Leon Pexton. He said demand to tie into UMPA lines is only beginning to surface. "We're just starting to work through that issue."

In addition to needing time to figure out how tying in to UMPA's lines would work, Thomas said other issues needing resolutions include determining whether turbines would be a noise nuisance and whether they're installed on the user's land. "It can't be ugly," Thomas added.

Pexton said UMPA member cities would need to resolve any issues with their business strategy in the context of contracts that require them to buy power from UMPA. "That's not insurmountable," he said. "That's done a lot."

Christensen and Giboney have been encouraged by the new Spanish Fork Canyon Wind Farm project, with its nine-turbine, 19-megawatt utility-scale system that can deliver enough electricity to PacifCorp to power 6,000 homes. But the city doesn't buy any of the farm's relatively expensive power, which gets routed elsewhere outside the city.

UMPA, however, sells power to the California-based farm's owner Edison Mission Group Inc. when the wind isn't blowing and the huge turbines aren't turning, which means the farm can't provide its own electricity to run essential equipment.

"It's really the right thing to do," Thomas said about at least being host to Utah's first large wind farm. "We're doing our share."