Earth Equity News

Small Scale Wind Generators Increasingly Thwarted by Local Ordinances. By Abby Goodnough, NYTimes, September 12, 2009. "While residential turbines remain a tiny fraction of the wind energy market, they are popping up often enough for many communities, especially in New England, the Midwest and the West, to start regulating them. Nearly 2,700 wind units with capacities of 10 kilowatts or less, the size used for residences, were sold nationwide last year, up from 1,167 in 2007, according to the American Wind Energy Association, a trade group. But challenges persist even in communities that have passed ordinances on windmills... The wind energy association estimates that one-third of small wind projects are thwarted by vague or overly strict local laws, or by outdated zoning rules that preclude them."