Get a good utility industry lawyer and approach the power company that owns the lines you're going to be using. They have to offer fair access to their power lines, but there are a huge number of federal and state regulations that you must follow as an Independent Power Producer. At that level of generation, you're going to have a voltage impact on the grid, and you'll have to employ someone 24-7 to regulate voltage output of your wind farm as directed by the transmission dispatchers.
I'm not trying to dissuade you from the endeavor. Just make sure you've got a lot of subject-matter experts at the ready for the feasibility study. Good luck!
I'm not absolutely certain about the California requirements for calibration, but in my poorly worded comment I was more referring to people who want to try and become a small generating facility - anything above 3 MW usually. Some of the larger wind turbines can reach 1.5 to 2 MW each, so if you've got 3 or more of those on your property, then you would fall under the "Qualified Facility" definition, and it's at that point you would need a lawyer. Anything routinely generated above that amount and you might have to start paying the owners of the transmission lines to move your power, and that requires a contract and a stringent meter calibration regimen.
Don't worry - I wouldn't think that the meter you speak of would require calibration more than once every 5-10 years.:)
As a NERC certified generation dispatcher, I can tell you for certain that in most cases you will not make a profit putting power back to the US grid, and there's a chance that you may never actually get an investment fully recouped without a state and/or federal rebate or some other program. This doesn't mean that it's a bad idea - just do it for the right reason.
Some issues that a small "Qualified Facility" has to address:
How do you measure the power you're putting to the grid? The standard issue power meters only flow in one direction - they don't spin backwards when you're generating more than you're using. They usually require you to install a special meter that requires routine calibration by a licensed professional.
There's a morass of legal requirements that must be met before you can get paid. Additionally, states have the ability to (and usually do) regulate the profit out of small home renewable energy sources below a certain output level, such as small wind, solar, geothermal, micro-hydro, etc... And above a certain output and you become classified as an "Independent Power Producer" - which opens up a larger can of legal worms. The issues go on and on...
Bottom line - if you're looking at this as a "get rich quick" scheme, I'm afraid you're going to be sadly disappointed. However, it DOES help by taking the some of the burden off of the greenhouse-gas-spewing power plants, and offsetting your own personal load on an already overloaded grid. Make sure you do your homework for your state and take full advantage of any rebate programs or tax incentives offered.
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Get a good utility industry lawyer and approach the power company that owns the lines you're going to be using. They have to offer fair access to their power lines, but there are a huge number of federal and state regulations that you must follow as an Independent Power Producer. At that level of generation, you're going to have a voltage impact on the grid, and you'll have to employ someone 24-7 to regulate voltage output of your wind farm as directed by the transmission dispatchers.
I'm not trying to dissuade you from the endeavor. Just make sure you've got a lot of subject-matter experts at the ready for the feasibility study. Good luck!
I'm not absolutely certain about the California requirements for calibration, but in my poorly worded comment I was more referring to people who want to try and become a small generating facility - anything above 3 MW usually. Some of the larger wind turbines can reach 1.5 to 2 MW each, so if you've got 3 or more of those on your property, then you would fall under the "Qualified Facility" definition, and it's at that point you would need a lawyer. Anything routinely generated above that amount and you might have to start paying the owners of the transmission lines to move your power, and that requires a contract and a stringent meter calibration regimen.
:)
Don't worry - I wouldn't think that the meter you speak of would require calibration more than once every 5-10 years.
As a NERC certified generation dispatcher, I can tell you for certain that in most cases you will not make a profit putting power back to the US grid, and there's a chance that you may never actually get an investment fully recouped without a state and/or federal rebate or some other program. This doesn't mean that it's a bad idea - just do it for the right reason.
Some issues that a small "Qualified Facility" has to address:
How do you measure the power you're putting to the grid? The standard issue power meters only flow in one direction - they don't spin backwards when you're generating more than you're using. They usually require you to install a special meter that requires routine calibration by a licensed professional.
There's a morass of legal requirements that must be met before you can get paid. Additionally, states have the ability to (and usually do) regulate the profit out of small home renewable energy sources below a certain output level, such as small wind, solar, geothermal, micro-hydro, etc... And above a certain output and you become classified as an "Independent Power Producer" - which opens up a larger can of legal worms. The issues go on and on...
Bottom line - if you're looking at this as a "get rich quick" scheme, I'm afraid you're going to be sadly disappointed. However, it DOES help by taking the some of the burden off of the greenhouse-gas-spewing power plants, and offsetting your own personal load on an already overloaded grid. Make sure you do your homework for your state and take full advantage of any rebate programs or tax incentives offered.