THE BOTTOM LINE

In the year 2000, the Middlebury College Snow Bowl purchased 464,859 kWh of electricity. Therefore with the installation of two NW 100/19 wind turbines, the college could replace the electricity consumption of the snow bowl completely. The extra electricity could possibly be sold back on the grid.

Considering that the Middlebury College Snow Bowl paid $92,079 for electricity in 2001, it would make economic sense to install two NW 100/19 wind turbines. If the capital costs were paid upfront, the wind turbines would pay for themselves within approximately five years. The price per kilowatt generated could be competitive with the current average of 8.5 cents per kWh that Middlebury College pays the Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS).

The Snow Bowl currently pays CVPS an average of about 21 cents per kWh for its electricity. The rate is so high because the Snow Bowl gets charged for its monthly peak kW load, whether it uses that much electricity or not. Because the Snow Bowl can suddenly turn on its lifts and demand a large amount of energy from CVPS, CVPS charges them that amount, even in the summer. Therefore, even if the Snow Bowl could not use all of the energy that was produced, they would be saving money by reducing the monthly peak demand.