Private wind power in Wayne

Builder will give free advice

By TOM KANE

DAMASCUS, PA — Steve Adams is looking to lower his electric bills and save the planet. So, he built two wind turbines that you can see on the left, if you’re driving on Route 371 and pass Holgate Road, heading west.

“My wife, Claire, started talking about putting up such a tower a few years back but it wasn’t cost-effective then like it is now,” he said. Adams lost his wife to cancer last April and would have celebrated her 41st birthday this past week.

The two towers plug right into his electric box without anything special to add to it.

“Just your regular box will take them and it will cut down on the electricity you usually use,” he said.

He demonstrated how the energy from the towers made the little wheel in his meter go forward slowly or even go backwards depending on the amount of the wind force at the moment.

“I did it to lessen my dependence on the power grid, to lessen the amount of electric energy that I use and the pollution I cause,” he said. “If everyone put up one of these towers, we wouldn’t be so dependent on foreign oil. But the most important reason for erecting them is to lessen the pollution in the atmosphere and the problem of climate change.”

Normally his electric bill for his outbuilding, where he stores his trailer and other equipment, costs around $70 to $100 a month. His first bill after the towers were erected was $15 and his second bill was $26. “It’s going to depend on how much wind there is,” he said.

Adams isn’t doing it for the savings but to lessen the need for electricity. “It’s not exactly cheap to put them up,” he said. The cost for each tower was around $10,000.

Adams imagines how great the savings to the environment would be if these towers were erected on some skyscrapers in New York City. “Even if only a fifth of the buildings did it, the advantages on lessening pollution would be monumental,” he said. “And it wouldn’t be that difficult to do.”

Adams, who is working with the Sustainable Energy Education & Development Support (SEED) program, will give advice to anyone who wishes to put a tower up.

Anyone who wants to know more about them can go on the Internet at www.skystreamenergy.com and get all the information one needs to purchase and have one erected or erect it yourself. Adams can be reached at 570/224-6000.