Aug. 27--CUMBERLAND ' Wind energy systems may be coming to Cumberland, but first the city must adopt regulations to aid in installation and use of the renewable energy and its technology.

At Tuesday's city meeting, City Planner David Umling gave a brief update and answered questions asked by the mayor, council and public in attendance.

'These regulations are needed because the city's current zoning ordinance doesn't govern specific wind turbines and lists windmills as accessory structures but has no specific regulations for them,' Umling said. 'It is necessary to have regulations in order to protect the city's natural and scenic backdrop. We market the city heavily with the views of Haystack, Wills and the Narrows, and these are the areas in our city with the greatest potential for large, industrial wind energy projects.'

The proposed regulations will govern the city so only small turbines can be installed in the city. These turbines will have a height restriction of 100 feet and a maximum production capacity of 15 kilowatts. And though 15 kilowatts doesn't seem like much, Umling said the nameplate capacity is a kilowatt hour meaning over a long period of time, each turbine would be able to produce up to 15 kilowatts of energy each hour.

Umling said an average house uses between 9,500 and 10,000 kilowatts each year.

'A 15-kilowatt wind turbine can produce 131,490 kilowatt hours each year (if operating at 100 percent), which is significantly more than the average household demand,' he said. 'And if you cut it back to the 28 percent, the average production is about 36,817 kilowatt hours each year ' that is still three and a half to four times more electricity than the average household uses. So, after running the figures, it is quite clear this size of turbine would serve more than just a residential use.'

Umling said there are provisions that allow a resident to build a turbine up to 150 feet in height, but the property owner must show they can get a reliable amount of wind at that level over what is accessible at 100 feet.

The other restriction on turbine height concerns the setback, which requires one and one-tenth feet for each foot. Umling said the city staff wanted to make sure there was a good safety radius around turbines in order to protect adjoining structures and properties.

There are also many other specific requirements to address nuisances that may be associated with turbines including wind flicker and noise.

Andrew Gohn, clean energy program manager for the Maryland Energy Administration, also spoke at the public hearing.

Gohn said wind energy, despite its intermittency, is considered one of the most versatile, scaleable, affordable and rapidly deployable renewable technologies and the MEA is working to assist local and county governments in crafting zoning and permitting standards to deploy technology that protects the safety of property and the rights in these communities.

He questioned one provision of the city's proposed ordinance ' the 15 kilowatt nameplate capacity.

'This provision seems to unnecessarily restrict appropriate uses of this technology. It limits wind energy systems to a 15 kilowatt nameplate capacity,' Gohn said. 'This is ample for single-family home residential use but may limit additional uses of this technology such as use for schools, small businesses, community centers, municipal centers and multiple family dwellings.'

The mayor and council will continue to take written public comment until noon on Sept. 3. Comments should be directed to the City Clerk Margie Eirich at P.O. Box 1702 or sent via e-mail to MEirich@allconet.org.

The second and third reading of the proposed ordinance will be held at the Sept. 8 city meeting.

Tess Hill can be reached at thill@times-news.com.

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