It's the good news story that just keeps on giving: A near-idle auto supply plant in job-hungry Manistee retrofits to produce a small wind turbine. Now, a little more than a year later,
MasTech Wind's 25 employees have built nearly 1,000 of the residential-size turbines designed by
Windspire Energy (formerly Mariah Power), and signed a long-term contract through 2014 with the Reno, NV-based company.
The 30-foot-tall Windspire -- the only volume-manufactured unit made entirely in the United States -- is a self-starting, propeller-free, vertical-axis wind turbine designed to harness wind power in urban, suburban and rural locations and defray about a third of a typical household's energy costs. It is eligible for a 30-percent federal tax credit off the installation cost and other local rebates, including U.S. Department of Agriculture programs for farmers.
Aimed at homeowners, businesses, schools and institutions looking to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels, the turbine costs as much as a new snowmobile or jet ski. Another plus, according to MasTech Wind Plant Manager John Holcomb: the Windspire is whisper-quiet, even at its top 400-rpm speed.
Holcomb says his plant's small turbines are being installed in 13 junior college renewable-energy labs around Michigan, including
West Shore Community College in Scottville near Ludington, and
North Central Michigan College in Petoskey. And thanks to the extended contract, Holcomb expects to hire more employees by the end of the year.
Writer: Patty LaNoue Stearns
Sources: Windspire Energy; John Holcomb, MasTech
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