ITHACA — Current code in the Town of Ithaca makes it impossible for individual homeowners to install wind turbines on their property, but that may change soon, said Cathy Valentino, town supervisor and a member of the Codes and Ordinances Committee.

The committee has been researching the issue of small wind-energy facilities for around four months, Valentino said, and committee members have a draft of a law to make installation and ownership of the facilities legal.

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“We want to allow homeowners to produce their own wind energy,” Valentino said, but under current zoning regulations, that's impossible.
The committee sees this mostly as an issue of environmental consciousness, which could allow homeowners to save energy, and therefore money. The Ithaca Town Board recently passed similar legislation to allow homeowners to install and use solar panels for similar purposes.

The committee has to consider ways wind energy facilities might interfere with neighbors of those using them, Valentino said.

For example, one of the most prominent complaints the committee has found in its research has been the noise the turbines produce.

The committee members will discuss the aesthetics of wind turbines, the fall zone required for them and other related issues.

Regulations dictate that there must be at least enough empty space around such turbines so that if one were to fall, it wouldn't hit anything, said Michael Miles, who has been using his 80-foot-tall wind turbine to generate power for his Town of Enfield home since he turned it on in April 2005. He said he's pretty happy with it.

Due to some miscalculations concerning the size of the turbine, Miles' turbine generates about half the energy needed for his home. His energy bill averages $65 per month, he said.

The total cost of Miles' turbine was $45,000, including installation, but New York state reimburses half the costs for homeowners' wind turbines, he said, as an incentive to use the technology.

Miles said that the noise his turbine makes is “noticeable,” but it's rarely louder than the wind. The faster the wind blows, the faster the turbine turns, making it louder.

Small turbines, such as those used to power individual homes, make about as much noise as a refrigerator, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's Web site.

Valentino stressed that Ithaca's law is a “work in progress.” The issue will stay in the committee for at least a few more months as committee members continue to discuss and research ideas and refine their draft of the law, Valentino said.

After that, the proposed law will go to the full Town Board, when it will be presented to residents for their opinions before the board makes a decision.

Researching and discussing the issue has been an interesting experience for Valentino.

“I had no idea they had turbines small enough to fit in a backyard,” she said.