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SNAP program adds wind power

Chelan County PUD
News Release
5/2/2002

Wind power is being added to the alternative-energy lineup in Chelan County PUD’s Sustainable Natural Alternative Power (SNAP) program. The program’s first wind tower was installed Wednesday, May 1, at the Colockum ranch of Charlie and June Nichols.

A 100-foot Bergey wind tower capable of producing up to 10 kilowatts of electricity was erected on a hill above their rural home, located about 15 miles south of Wenatchee. Brooks Solar Inc. of Chelan provided the equipment and installation. It was the largest wind installation made so far by Brooks Solar owners Randy and Anne Brooks.

The wind-power system is being tested and inspected. It’s expected to be connected to the PUD’s electrical grid on Friday. All power produced by the Nichols’ wind system will be fed into the PUD’s grid.

Installation of the wind turbine was made possible by the PUD’s SNAP program. The program, introduced last August, links PUD customers who want to support the development of alternative energy with local people, like the Nicholses, who want to produce that energy. PUD customers who pay a little more on their energy bills – as little as $2.50 a month – for SNAP are in effect purchasing wind power from the Nichols’ farm.

Nearly 700 customers are designating payments on their electric bills for the SNAP program. All of the funds designated for SNAP are divided once a year among SNAP producers, based on their energy production.

Charlie and June Nichols hope to recoup their investment of approximately $40,000 in three to five years. Preliminary wind maps indicate they are in a good spot for wind generation.

Other SNAP producers – all generating solar energy – are Randy and Anne Brooks, the federal government (at the Federal Building in downtown Wenatchee) and Wenatchee Valley College (at the Eller-Fox building, visible from Fifth Street).

For more information about SNAP, click here.

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