Backyard wind turbines face resistance

When Michael Brooks approached Highland city officials about putting a wind turbine in his backyard, he was met with blank stares.

There was no city ordinance in place to regulate the mechanical windmill, one of the greenest ways to produce electricity.

It took seven months of back and forth between the Highland Planning Commission and City Council for approval on a 45-foot tower that's shorter than neighborhood telephone poles.

"There's been a lot of roadblocks and hoops to jump through," Brooks said. "I'm not a major green kind of guy, but there is a side benefit of reducing carbon fuels by reducing my electricity."

As more homeowners find the appeal of backyard wind turbines to cut back on expenses and their carbon footprint, municipalities are faced with the challenge of approving such structures. Because there are no state regulations in place for residential turbines, projects often are put on hold for months while a city writes an ordinance and holds lengthy public hearings.

"It's an ongoing battle," said Steve Painter, owner of West Mountain Wind and Solar. "Most of the time, it's all going to cities and counties to allow them. That's been the biggest headache."

Painter began selling turbines three years ago after putting 14 on his street with neighbors in Payson. They originally wanted 21, though resident complaints dropped that number by seven.

"A lot of it is naivete. People don't understand them," said Painter, who installs turbines in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and Oregon. "People either love them or despise them. It's strange."

The same complaints pop up in city halls and council chambers: They're too noisy, too ugly, don't work, devalue property or will tip over.

"Someone's roof is going to come and take my windmill off long before my windmill takes someone's roof off," said Clyde Shepherd, an Alpine homeowner who was the first resident in northern Utah County to install a turbine.

The turbines can withstand winds up to 140 mph (the average roof takes 90 mph). And research shows wind turbines actually increase property values.

An average windmill costs $12,000 to $13,000, but state and federal tax credits can refund 50 percent of that price tag.

And while homeowners don't see an immediate payback, over time they'll stop getting a power bill.

That's because a turbine acts as a generator that runs on wind. It's tied to the electric meter, and when the turbine is generating more electricity than the home is using, the meter runs backward, putting that extra power back on the grid and credit into the homeowner's account.

Shepherd saw his electricity bill cut by an average of 42 percent in the first five months of use. He's since installed a second turbine and his bill has been cut by 90 percent.