Jul. 5--WAUSEON -- Art Miller found a way to pull money out of thin air.

"I was on a kick of what bill I could get rid of," said Miller, who owns a farm near Wauseon. "The way the market and the business are right now, profits seem to go down. But you can't pass it on to the customer."

He targeted an expense most people consider untouchable.

"What can I do to bring my cost of living to a bare minimum? Get rid of my utility bills," he said.

The answer was blowing in the wind, Miller found. A 5-kilowatt wind turbine stands about 125 feet from his house. Since Jan. 1, he watched his electric meter go backward. He said the turbine generates more electricity than he uses, meaning he'll get a check from FirstEnergy at the end of the year.

"When that motor kicked in, I was so happy," said John Carder, Miller's business partner with ALM&J Wind and Solar LLC. "I didn't know whether to watch the wind turbine or actually watch his meter spinning backwards. It's amazing."

Higher electric rates, available grant money and a push for alternative energy from the state and federal governments have the winds of change blowing the turbines' direction. It's not just for large-scale wind farms, such as ones proposed in Hardin and Logan counties. It's an opportunity for individual landowners.

Consumers have to be cautious against blowing through a wad of money without a good payback, electric company officials warn.

"Most people think the wind blows for free, so this should be a good deal," said George Carter, general manager and chief executive officer of Paulding-Putnam Electric Cooperative. "For some people, it just doesn't work out. The payback period might be a lot longer than they envision."

Local possibilities

Count Putnam Pierman, the man behind Putnam Power Inc.'s proposal to bring wind, solar and geothermal electric production to the area, as a proponent of wind energy. He's literally betting the farm on wind energy, using his family's 150-plus-year-old large homestead in Putnam County as collateral and a possible corporate home for a proposal he'll unveil in the next 45 to 60 days.

"I'd offer into evidence that Germany, your leading renewable energy country globally and the biggest solar country and second in wind, that their climatology there offers less than we have here in the state of Ohio," Pierman said.

The region has higher wind speeds than people might think. A study by AWS Truewind found the average wind speed at 30 meters between 12.3 mph and 15.7 mph throughout the region, with the highest rates stretching in Hardin and Logan counties. Miller's turbine needs 8 mph of breeze to kick into action.

"Down inside, most people think renewable energies are a good thing for the country to do," said Tom Dodds, who visited Miller's farm to investigate if a turbine is right for his farm near Bluffton.

Government programs will help turn Ohio into a major player in alternative energy, Pierman said.

"It's an exciting front.