Fighting Footprints: It's windy out there....

It's windy out there.... so let's use it to our advantage! Harnessing wind energy (which is SO common in Saskatchewan and many other places in North America) is a great way to power your home!

This post will be Saskatchewan specific, but if you are from another province or state, check with your energy provider to see what their protocol is!

SaskPower is promoting the installation of windmills! This is a great initiative by SaskPower, and I recently looked a little deeper into it in order to gain some more insight into the pro's and con's of PRACTICALLY IMPLEMENTING this type of energy into my life... and to pass that information on to you!

SO here's the scoop if you want wind power and still want "back-up" energy from SaskPower (the major power provider in Saskatchewan for those that are unfamiliar with this- SaskPower is a crown corporation, owned and operated by the government):

1. You must have a meter from SaskPower

2. SaskPower will come out and give you permission to set up a windmill

3. You must find a provider or distributor of windmills in your area (BEWARE: You must choose a trusted provider to ensure a good quality windmill is set up that will actually generate a significant amount of energy for your use~ we have heard of a situation where a couple went through the entire process of setting a windmill up and getting it approved, hooing it up to the grid, etc. and in the end the power generated only enough energy for the woman to run her HAIR DRYER everyday! So moral of the story: check it out and ensure that the windmill will provide you with the amount of enery you desire or need)

4. Once the windmill is installed, the windmill provider will help you apply for grants offered by the government and Research Councils, and these grants, as mentioned previously, can be quite a significant financial aid!

5. SaskPower will then come and connect the windmill to the meter and all of the power produced will be harnessed through the "grid", or SaskPower lines. Whatever power you do not use throughout the day/month will be carried over on your bill for cases when you use more power than you generate

6. Note: Every year SaskPower will set your banked energy back to zero, and you are never directly PAID in dollars for the power you generate and don't use!

7. If you use and equal or less amount of power than you generate, you will never pay for power, and this can be accomplished in MANY cases! Therefore in long run.... you save major moola!

Note: this research was done solely for personal use, and there are other options for larger wind producers, so check them out if you are interested!

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