Adjustments Board clears way for first residential windmill

"On a good, windy day, if there's nobody home it actually will spin the (electric) meter backwards," Andrew Rodgers told the Santa Rosa County Board of Adjustments at its July 1 meeting. "Then, when you come home, you use up the surplus you've accumulated."

Rodgers, of Alternative Energy Solutions in Gulf Breeze, said the small wind-energy system could save homeowners up to $100 per month on their electric bills.

The board voted 4-0 for a variance to the Land Development Code allowing an accessory structure on residential property owned by James D. Nicholson to exceed the maximum height of 35 feet. The windmill that powers the small turbine is about 33 feet tall, Rodgers said, with a 6-foot blade radius giving the structure an overall height of about 40 feet, including the tower's foundation.

For more on this story, see the July 8 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.