Gary Cernohous of Ihlen grinned about last month’s electric bill: $22. Cernohous and his wife, Cindy, began using wind-generated electricity two years ago as a way to lower their monthly $180 bill. He said his goal is to receive a check from Xcel for the electricity he generates.
According to Mary Thoen, Xcel Energy’s community relations representative, Minnesota residents who own wind turbines that produce less than 40 kilowatts of power can receive a “net metering” rate.
“Net metering is a meter that records energy flow in both directions,” Thoen indicated in an email. “At the end of the month the customer is billed for the net energy used.”
Customers receive retail price credit for the generation they sell back to Xcel Energy, Thoen said.
The net metering system allows Cernohous to see his energy usage and whether or not he is using his wind-generated electricity or selling it. He said he receives a 9-cent kilowatt credit for electricity sold back to Xcel Energy.
Located inside his garage are six, 2-volt “deep-cycle” storage batteries and the power hub, where electricity generated by the two small turbines is directed. He said he might have to upgrade to a larger power hub and add a third turbine to add the 220-volt appliances to his own network. Right now, with his current household usage, Cernohous said he could store enough power for three days.
“We had an outage not long ago, we didn’t know anything about it,” he said.
Read the full article by Mavis Fodness in the Pipestone County Star >>
