Wind Power as a Viable Contribution to Our Energy Needs

Utilizing wind power for our energy requirements not only saves money in the long run but makes us more independent.  While initially it is much less expensive to plug into the local electric companies power grid, not receiving an electric bill is a huge long term advantage to setting up wind turbines.

While electric bills and other energy costs are constantly rising, the price of producing wind turbine energy is essentially zero. And as demand rises and more commercial companies are involved in research and production of wind turbines, The cost of installation and hookup of a turbine is steadily decreasing. Technology and research is making for much more efficient production of wind energy.

Wind Power Fills the Demand for Green Energy

More people are desiring to move away from the traditional electric power grids and fossil fuels for personal, environmental and political reasons. Many people want the independence to live in rural or remote areas while still having the comforts of electricity. Fears about terrorist strikes on oil fields or power grids is another motivation for people to look at wind power for their energy needs.

Financial Incentives to Produce Wind Energy

As more business opportunities arise to profit from wind turbine production and maintenance, costs for the consumer steadily drop. At this time, thirty state governments offer rebates or tax breaks to homeowners who remain on the grid but also use wind or other alternative energy sources. These homeowners are eligible for financial incentives which pay for as much as 50% of their total "green energy system's cost.

In addition, in 35 states these homeowners are able to sell their surplus energy back to the power company under what are called "net metering laws". The local power companies pay the homeowners standard retail rates for their excess energy, so the homeowner actually profits from their energy production.

Some federal lawmakers are working to get the federal government to mandate these tax breaks and wind energy incentives in all fifty states. Germany and Japan are already ahead of us with national incentive programs in place. There is some resistance by the power companies to these regulatory policies as you could imagine. They feel they should only be required to pay wholesale rates to private individuals for their wind power electricity. The power companies seem to be more concerned with the loss of short term profit than the long term benefits to us all. The increased use of wind energy with wind turbines or wind farms will create greater energy independence for our nation as well as individuals and help to clean up our environment.