Co-op: Adding wind power can be complex process

A meeting sponsored by Hill County Electric Cooperative dealing with connecting wind turbines to the power grid had a simple message with complicated details: connecting to the grid is a complicated process.

"We try to keep the process as simple as possible. But it's not always that simple," Rollie Miller of Hill County Electric said.

Close to 100 people attended the meeting in Havre, which Hill County Electric held to explain the process of connecting a generator to the grid and the complications that can arise.

Rick Stevens, general manager of Hill County Electric, said cooperatives don't want people to think co-ops are opposed to using wind power. Hill County Electric will work with anyone who wants to install a wind turbine and hook it into the co-op's system, he said.

But the person wanting to hook up a turbine has to go through an application process, and the impacts of the proposal have to be evaluated.

"We want to help but it's not as straightforward and simple as it appears to be," Stevens said.

The idea of using wind turbines to power rural homes and businesses has become a high-profile issue on the Hi-Line. Nearly 250 people attended a Havre workshop in early February that gave details about using wind power and about money available through the 2002 Farm Bill and other sources to help people pay for installing the turbines.

The main focus has been on net metering: using the turbine to power homes and businesses and offset monthly power bills. If the turbine generates more electricity than the owner needs, it is put onto the power grid and the owner receives a credit on his or her power bill for the month, possibly reducing the monthly bill for electricity used to zero.

Miller told the audience what the application involves, including evaluating the equipment that would be used, whether the owner would use net metering or sell the electricity to power companies, and evaluating how the installation would impact Hill County Electric's other members and its contracts and the regulation of the power grid.

The application fee for the systems most people would install, a wind turbine producing less than 10 kilowatts, is $500, he said. Different fees are charged for different sizes. If processing the application for a less-than 10 kilowatt generator takes less than $500, the balance can be refunded, he said.

"But if it costs us more, we'll ask for more, too," he added.

Miller recommended that people who want to hook a wind turbine into Hill County Electric's system come and talk to the co-op to see what it will take before they start, adding that the the connection can be more complex than just hooking the turbine up to the power lines.

The details of connecting can be different for each person wanting to connect, he said in an interview.

Ed Weber of the Western Area Power Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy said during the meeting that if 150 kilowatts of generation are added to Hill County Electric's system, the administration will require applications as well. If someone adds 10 kilowatts of generation that brings the total to 150 kilowatts, that person will be responsible for the application and any costs, he said.

Miller said the administration, which markets and delivers power within a 15-state region, has to be sure the transmission lines can handle the amount of power being put into it.

Even if the generator doesn't put the power input over 150 kilowatts, the person installing the wind turbine needs to talk to the company he or she is dealing with to make sure its lines can handle the power transmission, Weber said.

"Reliability is our primary concern. We want to keep those lights on," he said. "We really have the same goal in mind: safety and reliability of transmission."