Company Raises Windmill to Cut Power Costs

September 25, 2008

By Tom Leo
Staff Writer
Syracuse Post-Standard

The windmill recently approved by the town of Cicero planning board went up last week at the Paul de Lima Company, 8550 Pardee Road, Cicero.

The coffee company plans to use wind turbine technology to supply part of its energy needs at its roasting plant located adjacent to Interstate 81, north of Exit 30.

The system is expected to be operating by the end of this month, company spokesperson Tracy Crowe said.

The 10kW Horizontal Axis Warner Wind Turbine System was supplied by Warner Energy LLC, which manufactures wind turbine systems to be used as an on-site energy source for commercial, industrial and agricultural building applications. The Drescher Corp., with offices in Clay, owns both Paul de Lima and Warner Energy.

The 10-kilowatt, 50-foot-high windmill is in front of the Paul de Lima building and visible from Pardee Road and Interstate 81.

It's unobtrusive, Cicero Supervisor Chet Dudzinski said, and almost resembles a flag pole.

Company officials anticipate the windmill will offset a percentage of the substantial power needs required by Paul de Lima, but couldn't say how much. The state energy authority says an on-site or small wind power energy system in a windy location can lower electricity bills between 50 and 90 percent.

The company intends to take advantage of recently-passed state legislation that allows commercial consumers to "roll the meter backwards" by feeding excess power generated by the wind turbine system into the power grid, Crowe said.

Warner Energy began testing two windmills at its Morgan Road site last year and eventually plans to sell such a product for commercial and, possibly, residential use.

The commercial windmill is among the first of its kind in Onondaga County. No businesses in the county, other than Paul de Lima, are known to be using windmills, said representatives of the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Board and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Parties, Picnics and Promotions at 9120 Brewerton Road also applied to the town of Cicero to install a commercial wind turbine system. Gary Thompson, who owns Parties, Picnics and Promotions, wants to erect a 1.8-kilowatt windmill with 6-foot blades on a 45-foot-high pole to supply power to a mini-storage building he plans to build on his 3.4-acre site. Thompson said the windmill easily would supply enough power for the storage building, with enough left to sell to National Grid.