Windmill sales could soar: With electricity rates climbing, turbines may become popular

OAK HILLS, CALIFORNIA - While many residents were irked at Southern California Edison's proposed rate increase of 15 to 18 percent, Joe Guasti saw opportunity in the horizon.

Guasti owns Guasti Construction and for the past five years has sold and installed around 75 wind turbines throughout the Victor Valley. The recent announcement that SCE will increase prices leads him to believe that 2006 will be a good year to sell wind turbines.

"Don't get me wrong. I am not happy that people have to pay, but this will give people a chance to try wind turbines," he said. For companies that are in the business of selling alternative power generators, 2006 might just be the year to increase sales.

That could be proven true especially if the California Energy Commission makes good on a promise to increase rebates from $13,870 to $21,115. "We understand this is a good possibility that this could happen and that would be great for us," Michael Bergey, president of Bergey Windpower Company, said in phone interview from Oklahoma.

The CEC is scheduled to meet on Jan. 18 to discuss to possible change, CEC spokeswoman Amy Morgan said. Guasti said Thursday that the meeting on Jan. 18 will be just a formality as staff in the CEC assured him that the new rebates will be approved. Under the proposed new rebates, the cost for an average wind turbine would be around $29,000.

Guasti said that even with the new county ordinance, which requires a review by the Planning Department, a $495 permit fee and notification of neighbors before the windmill is installed, he expects sales to soar.