It's Blowing In The Wind!

By Drew Scott

 A new wind of change is blowing around Islip Town hall today.

 Islip is the first Long Island township to vote approval for personal residential wind turbines or windmills! I covered the news conference this afternoon as they made the historic announcement.

Experts say it may be one of the first municipalities in the nation to allow individual homeowners to build windmills to generate environmentally friendly electricity in their own backyards.  

The rush for wind power began earlier this year when Oakdale college professor Susan Sherwood asked Islip Town Councilman Steven Flotteron if he could help her get permission to build a windmill on her acre of property and get zoning approval to hook it up to the LIPA power grid.

Susan is hoping to save more than $700 on her annual electric bill and may even share her windmill generating capacity with a neighbor. She says one Suffolk county company has given her an estimate for $23,000 to build the turbine on her sprawling property south of the Southern State Parkway.

Newly approved regulations require the windmill be no more than about 45 feet high and must be at least 45 feet away from the nearest neighbors yards to prevent damage or injury in case of a collapse.

New regulations will also allow commercial property owners to set up windmills on their buildings, allowing up to 100 feet in height.

Susan says she is optimistic about the success of the wind turbine saving her energy, and helping out the environment.

"After all", she says, "the wind is for free!"

Comments

[Ken Voska]

Important Question:
The FAA regulates radio towers to prevent aircraft from hitting them, so I assume that it would also have control over wind turbines. What are the FAA regulations for wind turbines?