Saco officials consider building wind turbine

SACO – City officials are exploring whether it makes sense to erect a wind turbine to generate electricity and cut down on the city’s energy costs.

Members of the City Council’s energy committee, along with Mayor Mark Johnston and City Administrator Rick Michaud, are planning a trip on April 17 to Hull, Mass., where two wind turbines save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in electricity costs.

Committee members this week scouted Saco’s old landfill, which is now used for recreation, to see if it would be a suitable site for a wind turbine.

Committee Chairman Eric Cote said everything is preliminary at this point, though he would like to see a wind turbine included in a capital improvement bond question for the November election.

The city and the Saco school department now pay between $800,000 and $900,000 a year for electricity, so a wind turbine could pay for itself in a few years, he said.

“Why are we so concerned about our supply of oil and natural gas or anything else when you can produce energy, pollution-free, from the wind?” Cote asked.

Hull Light Department’s 164-foot wind turbine was erected in 2001 and produces about 1.5 million kilowatt hours of energy a year.

A larger turbine was built this year at Hull’s landfill. It is expected to generate 4.7 million kilowatt hours a year, enough to save $500,000 more on power costs.