Village of Red Hook will add
wind energy to power supply

By Donna Cafaldo , Corresponden Daily Freeman March 9, 2005

RED HOOK - The Village Board, following a brief debate between two trustees over the merits of wind energy, has agreed to add the alternate power source to the village's energy supply.
By a 3-1 vote Monday, trustees agreed to a contract with Community Energy, which markets wind-generated power out of Wayne, Pa.
The proposal was introduced Monday night by Trustee Jack Gilfeather, who requested the village purchase 50 percent of its electricity from the firm under a three-year agreement.
Trustee Dave Seymour said he "had a problem" with the proposal, arguing that wind energy costs more than what the village currently pays Central Hudson for electricity.
Seymour, saying property owners are facing tax increases of $300 to $400 with a pending reassessment, said the village should be looking to save, "not spend more money."
"I am just not ready to buy into it," said Seymour, who ultimately voted against the contract.
Gilfeather said residents should not have to live with the ups and downs of oil costs. He said the more municipalities join in, the lower the cost for wind energy will be. He noted that 35 communities in Dutchess, Westchester and Ulster counties have already signed on.
The Westchester County town of Croton, he said, was the first municipality in New York to add wind energy as a source of power for its municipal buildings, at a level of 25 percent.
Locally, the towns of Red Hook, Woodstock, LaGrange, Fishkill, New Paltz, Clinton and Pine Plains, along with the villages of Rhinebeck and Tivoli as well as Dutchess County, have agreed to pay a "green" premium for a portion of their energy needs from wind, he said.
A 1.5 megawatt wind turbine, which stands about 200 feet high and costs about $1 million, generates about four million kilowatt hours per year. Touted as pollution-free, the turbines have been moving their way east of the Mississippi in recent years.
Seymour said wind energy still "has a long way to go," adding that there is even a referendum proposed in the "green state of Vermont" to stop wind mills from being planted along the Route 7 corridor.
Gilfeather said electric companies are not against wind energy as an alternate energy source and noted that the cost per kilowatt hour has decreased twice since it first was implemented.
Mayor David Cohen recommended the village adopt the power source at a level of 25 percent. Gilfeather agreed to amend the percentage.

©Daily Freeman 2005

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