Crisfield City Officials Begin Comparing Wind Turbine Proposals

CRISFIELD -- City officials plan to begin studying proposals from six companies hoping to install wind turbines at the city's sewage treatment plant where electricity bills are running about $20,000 a month.

The comparisons could take awhile, because "it won't be apples to apples," Mayor Percy Purnell said at this week's City Council meeting.

Bidders were asked for proposals that included more than just the cost of a turbine.

"It could take a month of study," he said.

Bids opened during the council meeting ranged from $4.7 million for a 1.5- megawatt turbine to $1.1 million for a 750-kilowatt model.

The city wants to build two or three large wind turbines -- about 300 feet tall -- on land next to the sewer plant to generate power for the plant.

Additional electricity would power other city-owned buildings, such as City Hall, the police station and fire department, and also be sold back to the grid.

Officials are hoping to hear soon if a $4.18 million grant application to the Maryland Department of the Environment has been approved.

If the money is awarded, the city also will need to borrow $625,300 toward the project, according to Noah Bradshaw, the city inspector who is spearheading the project.

For several months, wind speeds in Crisfield were measured with an anemometer atop a city water tower. The 18- to 19-miles-per-hour average that was captured is enough to sustain a wind farm, he said.

Bradshaw -- who has attended seminars at the American Wind Institute -- is also in the process of trying to start a smaller wind turbine project at the American Legion post in Crisfield.

Aside from the environmental benefits, wind power is expected to take a huge burden off the budget. After the city upgraded its sewage treatment plant, electricity bills jumped from about $13,000 per month to $20,000.

City officials have said they want to take the savings and put the money into street paving and other projects.

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