OAK POINT — Several residents along the northern shore of Lewisville Lake have listened to the wind and asked the city if they can turn that energy into their own electricity.

DRC/Gary Payne

A Skystream 3.7 wind turbine owned by Paul and Elena Westbrook turns by wind power, generating electricity for their home in Fairview, on Friday. The home uses less power from the public utility grid when the turbine is running.

But rather than handle each wind turbine on a case-by-case basis, as other cities have done, Oak Point planning and zoning leaders will be among the first in Texas to write guidelines for them when they meet Tuesday.

“We’re not looking to discourage them,” Oak Point City Manager Julie Johnston said. “The city can encourage alternative energy sources … while still balancing policy issues.”

Backyard turbines are not the behemoths that utility-grade turbines are, such as those multistory ones spinning in the wind farms around Abilene and Amarillo. But in order for any turbine to capture the most wind power possible, it has to be raised on towers that reach higher than the typical flagpole or television antenna.

In polling other towns and cities around the state seeking like-minded ordinances Johnston was surprised to find that Oak Point may be the first to take up the matter.

Two years ago, the city put rules in place for communications towers and much of that policy, such as electrical and fencing considerations, could be applicable to wind turbines, Johnston said. But other rules won’t work, such as the city’s requirement that towers be “stealth,” — covered or made to look like something else.

Moreover, because of electricity deregulation, Johnston is encouraging the planning and zoning commission to consider more than simple individual residential or business use. One property owner asked about installing more than one turbine, she said.

Although Texas overtook California this year as the nation’s top wind-generating state, North Texas is not considered a good area for wind power, according to Ken Starcher, director of the 30-year-old Alternative Energy Institute at West Texas A&M University.

Most of the wind farms are in West Texas and the Panhandle, where wind power density — measured in watts per square meter — is rated Class 3 or higher, which experts say is more conducive for making electricity than in North Texas.

In North Texas, wind power density is rated Class 2 or lower, and experts say that is marginal for making electricity.

But within any regional class wind power can vary a lot, Starcher said.

Wise County is the closest he and his team have measured and mapped wind power density in greater precision than those maps published by the National Renewable Energy Lab. He didn’t know of anyone who has measured around Lewisville Lake.

“They may have good winds coming up off that nice, flat lake, especially if they’re mostly southerly,” Starcher said.

The best places for turbines are on exposed spots and on small rises, where the wind consistently comes from one direction. Typically, backyard turbines need an acre of space, he said.

However, before people go shopping for a system, Starcher recommends home and business owners look around for ways to conserve energy first. It’s cheaper, and the payoff is greater.

Collin County residents Paul and Elena Westbrook agree with that. Becoming well known in the region for their energy-efficient home in Fairview, between Allen and McKinney, the couple started with a number of conservation ideas before they installed a wind turbine in September.

“None of it is rocket science, but a little altogether wins,” Elena Westbrook said. Their home is well insulated, has both passive and active solar energy components and an underground heat pump.

In the 10 years they have lived in their 2,800-square-foot home, their electric bills averaged $70 — summer electric bills rarely topped $100. Yet, some of their neighbors had four-figure electric bills, she said. After electric rates started going up last year and were expected to continue rising, they decided a wind turbine could possibly pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time.
The couple doesn’t belong to a homeowners association and only needed a special electrical permit with the city of Fairview to put in their turbine. Elena Westbrook said they had to cajole the local electrical cooperative just a little in order to reach an agreement, since cooperatives were exempted from Texas electrical deregulation. Unlike other power makers, co-ops don’t have to buy excess electricity made by a home or business owner.

While “$0” is the least the couple will ever see on their electric bill, they weren’t expecting to make enough to sell it back to the power company anyway.

“There’s just not enough wind in the Dallas area,” she said.

Starcher has found that not everyone who’s considering a wind turbine is doing it just for the money. They are also considering the socioeconomic benefit, he said.

“They’re not at the mercy of coal plants and they’re not doing it for the economy. A lot [of people] are going that way — ‘I’m making it myself, it’s clean, I’m not wasting water, and I’m doing it independently,’” Starcher said.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .

* They lower property values.

Several studies have examined this assertion and found no evidence that surrounding property values were affected. Anecdotal evidence has shown that homes with turbines increase in value.

* They kill wild birds.

Sometimes birds do fly into them, but it’s uncommon. Statistically, domestic cats kill far more birds than residential turbines do.

* They are unsafe in bad weather.

A properly installed system shuts down when the surrounding power grid is out. During an ice storm, build-up slows the blades and eventually ice drops at the base of the tower, rather than being thrown. Statistically, trees are more likely to be downed in a storm than a wind turbine, but set-back requirements can protect structures.

* They’re noisy and will interfere with my television reception.

Small turbines are about as loud
as a refrigerator and don’t interfere with television waves.

SOURCE: Web site of the American Wind Energy Association, www.awea.org.

Ken Starcher of the Alternative Energy Institute at West Texas A&M University and Paul and Elena Westbrook recommend that home and business owners reduce their energy load first before considering a wind turbine, since North Texas has low-density winds. Here’s what the Westbrooks put in their home first:

* Passive solar design

* Structural insulated panel walls