By Natalie Miller, April 6, 2006

After four years of work by volunteers and several months of open discussion on the subject of renewable energy in Ipswich, voters made their decision at Town Meeting Monday to authorize the town to go ahead with the plans for a wind turbine in Ipswich.

Only eight voters cast a no vote when the article was put before Town Meeting.

Article 18 asked the town to borrow $136,000 for the design and permitting of a 1.65 megawatt wind turbine generator, which would provide an estimated 3 percent of the town’s energy.

The original article asked Town Meeting for the entire cost of the turbine, estimated at $3.8 million, but it was decided to break the project up, asking for a little at a time. Now, with the initial authorization in the bag, the town can go ahead with getting permits as well as finishing the application for a zero-percent federal loan through the new Federal Clean Renewable Energy Bonds program, which is due April 27.

This project will come before Town Meeting again in the fall and next spring.

The wind turbine will be owned and operated by the town of Ipswich at the end of Town Farm Road. It would provide enough electricity to supply 400 households.

Selectman Elizabeth Kilcoyne said this is electricity the town won’t be buying off the grid, which is known for its extreme fluctuations.

"This is a sound investment," she said. "Your rate won’t go down. What we are trying to do is prevent the rate from going higher."

Some at Town Meeting thought this was small potatoes compared to the magnitude of the energy crisis.

Finance Committee member Marion Swan explained that she could not support a wind turbine at this time because of the small effect it will ultimately have on the grid.

"When I first heard about it I was thrilled and excited for Ipswich," said Swan.

She could even overlook the fact that her rates wouldn’t go down because it is good for the environment. The deciding factor for her came when she learned no future wind turbines were being discussed and the one turbine will have only a 3 percent effect on the town’s energy supply.

Even with the wind turbine, the town will still be 97 percent vulnerable to the grid, she said.

She criticized the Electric Light Department for having no apparent business plan for more turbines to make the project a viable alternative for the town.

"At this time," she said, "I could never support this project or this article."

James Engel of the Electric Light Subcommittee has been with the project since its conception in 2002.

He warned against relying on any one energy source.

"The strategy is to diversify a bit at a time," he said. "It is a game of small percentages."

He mentioned that the Electric Light Department is planning to take part in a Berkshire wind project, which would supply another 3 percent of the town’s electricity.

"We are not looking to have a wind farm," said Engel.

The site at Town Farm Road could hold another turbine, maybe two, but there is no plan to have a farm of turbines.

Harvey Schwartz of Marshview Road, who drives a hybrid car, thinks any step - even a small one - toward renewable energy is a good step.

"We have to do something," he said. "This is planting a seed."

The alternative to this project is to do nothing; and if there is no real cost to the town, why not do it, he said.

"Think globally and act locally," he said.

Sara O’Connor of Scott Hill Road agreed with Swan, adding that there is a democratic injustice to voting on the project without going to the ballot. She felt 500 people is too small a number of residents to decide on such a large scale project like a wind turbine.

As far as insurance for the project, Engel said it is covered in the total cost of the turbine and all risks are covered except damage by terrorists.

Jason Wertz, co-chairman of Ipswich Citizens Advocating for Renewable Energy (ICARE), has been advocating strongly for putting a wind turbine in Ipswich.

"We do have to take a step," he said. "Whatever that step may be."

He said the town and its volunteers are trying to approach the project in a smart and conservative way.

"We do believe this is the right thing to do," he said. "It will be a source of town managed energy."

Engel said the wind turbine project could be completed in three years. The money voted on at Monday’s Town Meeting will take the town through the initial few months.