By Kevin Denke 07/17/2008 Photo Kevin Denke Brad Groff and his wife, Mindy Passmore, call watching their wind turbines spin, “cheap energy” and “cheap entertainment.” The TBG Service Co. station on Denver Avenue in Fort Lupton is a popular stop these days. They always have their share of visitors whether it is folks filling up on gas, in need of welding supplies, looking to pick up a towed car or just wanting a cold drink.

But now, it is the whirling blades of their own personal wind farm peaking out from behind the quaint service station that piques the curiosity of a passerby.

“I drove by yesterday and all three of them things were spinning,” one customer tells owners Brad Groff and his wife, Mindy Passmore. “I drove back by on the way home and only one was spinning.”

“I don’t know, man,” Groff replies. “You tell me what the wind does.”

Yep, the turbine towers have been the talk of the town since they were installed July 2.

“Tons of people,” Groff says of folks drawn to the windmills (respectively 45- and 33-feet tall). “The interest is phenomenal.”



Why didn’t we think of this?

The couple, who have run TBG since 1996, first stumbled on to the idea of using wind turbines as an energy source as they thought ahead to their retirement in Oklahoma.

“We were trying to think of ways that we could cut all of our bills after we retire and don’t have much of an income,” Groff says.

The idea of wind energy to counter those monthly utility bills stuck with the pair so much that they not only invested in three turbines in April but decided they would market them to others as well.

“We got to thinking about it and thought, ‘there’s a need for these things,” Groff says.

He spent a week at Arizona-based Southwest Wind Power where he learned everything about the turbines from installation to the company history to dealing with permitting and zoning issues.

The last piece of education came in kind of handy.

Wind power isn’t free Groff says he found the price was steep when he went to the city to get a permit for installing his turbines.

Absent anything in its code dealing specifically with alternative energy devices, city staff said it would need to charge a special use permit at a cost of about $900.

Groff balked at the high cost.

City Administrator Mike Konefal said they have no specific ordinance related to alternative energy implements such as solar panels or wind turbines but that the special use permit application is the standard process for residents seeking exceptions to municipal code.

“We have a mechanism in place rather than doing a full code change,” he said.

Konefal said Groff presented data showing a loophole in city municipal code. He pointed out that public utilities are allowed by right. City staff conversely argued that private utilities are not permitted by right and subject to a special use permit. It turned out both sides were half right.

“He was going to be using the wind generators as a private utility for his own personal purpose,” Konefal said. “He was also going to be connecting it to the public utility grid.”

The city eventually cut the cost of the special use permit fee to $450.

“We thought it would be appropriate to cut the fee in half as a compromise.”

Groff paid the $450 along with an $800 building permit fee. While he says he has no problem with the latter charge, he is still vexed by the special use permit fee. Groff said it goes against the intent of the Renewable Energy Incentives Act which says those who use renewable energy devices should be rewarded or given a break.

“We didn’t want to pay it,” Groff said. “We still think we should be refunded that money because of what we’re trying to do.”

Konefal said city council has given staff a six-month timeframe to draft a special ordinance dealing with alternative energy issues.

“The time is right to do it, to put together an ordinance,” he said. “It’s not that difficult of an ordinance to write.”

But as Groff moves from simply benefiting from the use of wind turbines to encouraging others to do the same, he worries customers will be deterred by the cost of additional fees. The cost and installation of the wind turbines he is selling can run close to $12,000.

Looking at the same thing

Dan Brennan operates Highway 85 Self Storage on Weld County Road 27 ½ and became interested after Groff made his pitch on the benefits of wind energy.

“Brad was talking about it and I said I’d be interested because wind blows all the time,” Brennan says. “I haven’t quite decided if it’s efficient enough. I’m just trying to cheapen my electric bills.”

But Brennan’s property is in Weld County and he’s weary of going through the county’s permitting process.

According to Weld County Planning Director Thomas Honn, the county has a general building permit for traditional windmills – the kind found on farm land above the water trough. They must be less than 70 feet high, produce less than 50 kilovolts of power and be related to an agricultural use.

Anyone else must go through a use by special permit review – a four-month process that includes a $2,500 application fee to cover research, public comments and public hearing preparation.

Brennan said the fee wasn’t the biggest factor for him. Instead, he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of the permit process that would include a review of his entire existing lot.

“I just don’t want to redraw everything,” Brennan said.

Honn said the county is trying to catch up with sudden upturn in demand for items like personal wind generators.

“When the code was written it didn’t address the rush we’re beginning to see for personal-scale wind generators,” he said.

County staffers and commissioners are planning a work session as soon as next month to discuss the latest research and get direction on a possible code change.

Honn said there are a variety of factors that must be weighed in a code change especially regarding wind turbines. Chief among those issues are tower heights, permissible property sizes for the equipment, possible noise issues and whether neighborhood notification is necessary.

Honn said the county is not trying to be heavy-handed or discourage use of alternative energies. He said the direction he has received from the commissioners is very much the opposite.

“The county has every interest in trying to facilitate things like this that do make sense and certainly is not looking at being punitive,” he said. “And, the commissioners, more specifically, have said ‘lets find a way to get these in as simple and inexpensive as possible for people.’”

Brennan said he believes the county is working towards a reasonable solution. While he waits, he is using the time to evaluate whether wind energy is the best option.

For Groff and Passmore, who have invested more than $30,000, in starting the business, changes in county policy can’t come soon enough.

“It’s a big gamble and the county’s actually hurting us a little bit right now because we’d like to start recouping some of that money,” Groff says. “Loan payments are due.”

“We’ve got six or seven people that would put one up today if we can get past that stupid $2,500,” Passmore adds.



Concerns monitored at state, environmental level

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has championed a “new energy economy” since first taking office.

Jeff Lyng, the renewable energy program coordinator in the governor’s energy office, has seen the effort to make homegrown energy a reality take often small, but meaningful steps forward. One of the bigger successes of the past legislative session, he says, was limiting the power of homeowner’s associations to prevent residents from installing energy efficient and renewable energy devices at their homes. Ritter also signed into law a net metering bill this spring that credits alternative-energy users who tap back into the public grid with their own home-produced energy.

But Lyng admits there is much work to be done. To that end, the office is developing a tool kit to help with the issues surrounding the emergence of new energy processes.

“What seems to be happening in terms of the existing barriers is that we are reinventing the wheel over and over and over in local communities,” Lyng said. “High-permitting fees for wind generators is something we recognize is still very much a barrier.”

Lyng said much of this year’s past legislation was geared toward solar energy. He is hopeful that future bills will give wind power its place next to the sun.

Keith Hay, clean energy advocate for Environment Colorado – a citizen-based environmental advocacy group – said it isn’t unreasonable for cities and counties to recover permitting costs.

“Those permitting costs shouldn’t and can’t be a burden to homeowners and small business owners who want to make that kind of investment,” he said. “Cities and counties definitely need to be looking at their building codes and permitting fees to make sure those are reasonable costs for the technology and reasonable costs for the people wanting to use that technology.”



Selling itself

Groff believes once some of the obstacles in harnessing renewable energy are gone for everyday citizens, his job will be pretty easy.

“I don’t think we’re really going to have sell these things,” he says. “Once the policies all get in place, I think they’ll sell themselves.

“Anybody that’s against renewable energy is a fool,” he adds. “It’s clean, free energy.”

The TBG turbines stand atop a sandy, gravelly lot ringed by a security fence and old, towed cars.

Groff dreams that one day selling the turbines will generate enough income so he could shut down the gas island and make this area behind the service station a grassy park.

He’ll take breaking even on their monthly utility bill for now.

Sometimes when the nightly Rockies game has lost its lure and the breeze gently begins to ruffle the trees, Groff and Passmore will retreat to a pair of waiting lawn chairs.

And they will sit side by side, watching the uniquely-shaped blades whirl.
“Cheap energy, cheap entertainment,” Groff says.

When they aren’t doing that, he admits they are watching in awe as their power meter spins backward.
For now, they believe they are on the cusp of what is about to become a very lucrative investment.
And it all starts with someone who can’t help but stop and ask about those windmills.
Passmore motions her husband over to the service window.
Yep, another person with questions about the windmills.
“Well, what do you want to know?” Groff asks gleefully.

www.windenergycolorado.us