This seems like a good question, JR.

 I believe that the only market for the electricity is out to the grid that serves the whole country.  For the city to operate their own power company to serve their own region, so that the local region only would profit from the resource, would probably be impossibly revolutionary.  A business person could explain better, but for starters, the city would need to own the turbines and all the distribution, ie. the powerlines.   This would be a giant investment.  Maybe there are utility laws that say no one entity can control the local power generation in this way.

Another thing the city could do, I suppose, is go into the business themselves.  They could build their own farms and sell the electricity like the other wind companies do.  They would lease the land, build the turbines, wait as many as ten years to hook up to the new connections to the grid in the same way that the other wind companies have been waiting.  And then they would be in competition with the companies already here doing that.

But those companies are the benefits that wind brings to Tehachapi.  They are local industry, and provide jobs and so forth.

There is something else the city could do, and they did it.  The four turbines just north of downtown are on city land, are owned by the city, and provide most of the power needed for the sewage plant.  This is small, compared to your bigger ideas, but it is something.  I hope I have shed some light on this. 

Wayne Thompson

And maybe for those of us who live in town and don't have room for windmills, we could pay into one or more large windmills to supply power to small private groups?  Sort of like how some neighborhoods share a well and are their own utility company?  I don't know all the technicalities- but it's a thought.  I'd love to invest in solar panels and a solar water heater, but it's so far out of reach financially.

Then if we all drove electric cars, it would be cheap to charge and reduce emissions!  Take a look at www.zapworld.com, an independent electric car, quad, scooter and even a pickup truck manufacture here in CA.  I have been watching them for a while and the other day at Home Depot  I saw 3 of the pickups on a semi and they were cool!  The electric car sells for around $10,000 and the pu $12,000.  Right now they only have a 25 mile range but wait awhile longer and once they put Lithium batteries in them the range will be much greater.  And the $10,000 include a free electric charger and free electricity for a year!

Germany has been paying $10 a gallon for 10 years now!  That's why the rest of the world is mad at us for driving Escalades and Hummers-we have used more than our allotment of the world's resources. The rest of the world thinks Americans are gluttons! They all drive little economy cars overseas and are very recycle conscious.

I'm a little skeptical of electric cars as the system is set up now.  Most of that electricity is coming from coal plants, so there's the hidden emissions we have to think about.  And this latest ethanol push was quite a bust, with poor planning and unforseen consequences.

I don't think there's any oil company conspiracy with gas prices.  But I do know that with the current prices, my household is being affected pretty badly.  We're so used to being able to go places, but the trips are fading away.  No more leisure trips anymore.  I even had an appointment to go to the DMV in Bakes on Friday, but we decided to go to the DMV when it's up here at Veterans Hall.  And all the other errands we were going to run down there (Costco, Walmart, etc) are going to be consolidated into a trip to see my family in Lancaster on Saturday.  It's going to be a long day.

I'm grateful though that my husband only has to commute twice a week in his little commuter-mobile.  Our other car is a medium sized SUV, which fits our family well- hubby and I, baby, and 2 huge dogs that go almost everywhere with us.  The pups are going to be sad when we have to switch to using the little car.  For now, I'm just trying to walk more often and only use the car when we're going far or don't have a safe area to walk along.  (Strollers on gravel and uneven dirt don't function so well, but it's the only way to get to the grocery store- so I make due and tell myself that my son doesn't mind all the bouncing.)

There I go, writing a dang book... I was just thinking about all of this only an hour ago.

I myself have been driving a 3/4 ton diesel pu for the past several years that got 18 mpg. About 4 mths ago I was concerned that gas prices might go way up so I started looking around for a car.  After looking at hybrids and new cars, I found a 1998 Saturn station wagon with 12,500 original miles on it--bought it from a little old lady from Leisure World.  Looks new but saved me almost $20,000 and NO CAR PAYMENTS!!!!  I checked the mpg for the first time this weekend when I went to Lake Isabella.  I went an impressive 210 miles on 6 gallons of gas!  35 mpg!

But I still have my truck--it is hard to haul trash and horse manure to the dump in a car.   And a bale of hay gets everywhere when you put it in the car!

I will answer by saying that the reason the we don't benefit from the wind power is because they are ran by companies and not the government. Sorry but we are not that socialist yet. However, if the city would allow it you could put a small wind mill on your roof to help generate power. These wind mills are small, compact non-traditional ones. Here are a couple links to see.

http://www.swiftwindturbine...

http://www.treehugger.com/f...

Then the next problem I would forsee is the nieghbors that live around you may call it an eyesore.

As for the city doing anything, just look across from K-Mart towards the highway. There are three windmills that the city owns to generate power for their electric vehicles.

Awsmom,

You can convert your diesel to use BioDiesel to cut your cost down. I have a friend who has done this and saves plenty in greenbacks and carbon.  He did say it cost some up front, but starts paiding for itself real quick.

JR...  You took the words right out of my mouth.   Germans spend about the same as we do a month on gas, the only difference is they are getting much more bang for the buck..

I was thinking about getting my own mill.    Yes, they are expensive to buy and then you have to pay for installation as well..but they will pay for themselves in about 10 years.  The reason I haven't bought one yet is because of the flipping NOISE.  I can probably deal with it, but will it be fair to my neighbors who live up in these hills for peace and quiet? The whirring sound of the windmills’s generator tops out at 40 to 45 decibels so I hear... that may be irritating to many who live close by.

When I bought this house I made sure it was the right size for my needs...I didn't buy a large house like the one I have in AZ.  I also bought all energy saving appliances and paid extra to have my house insulated properly.  I don't leave lights on or use the A/C much...OK I could do better on saving energy when it comes to the A/C..  However, I do try to limit myself to cooling only one room if I don't have company.   I have two large flat screen TVs, ....I only watch one of the TVs for a couple hours at night... I do have one of the computers going most of the day, but I have a switch that turns off all the electricity at night or when I am traveling so that my electronics don't suck up power while I'm gone or asleep.   I have a well that takes electricity, and I try to conserve water by washing my dishes by hand instead of the dishwasher and placing a brick in the toilet tanks... I have a lot of little trees that I have planted and I know I use a lot of water on them...  However, I am using Grey water to water most of them.   I have changed all my light bulbs to energy smart bulbs.    My electric bill at my house in AZ was 5 times the amount of what I pay here and my lifestyle hasn't changed much at all.  My electric bill averages about $60.00 a month for the year. So I am feeling OK about the cost I personally spend on electricity and I feel I am fairly green in that respect.

My problem is propane gas...   During the winter months because I use propane gas to heat the house and because I hate the cold...  I am spending an average of $250.00 a month from mid December to mid April on propane gas.   Were as during the summer because I have my water heater turned way low and I don't need to heat the house anymore I am spending about $5.00 a month...  Yep, quite a difference in propane gas use.  lol  I spend less than half in this house on propane than I do in my house in AZ .... I am not complaining about the cost at all... although I would like to find a greener way to warm me up.

Any ideas on how to heat my house in order to be more green?  My house is only 2 years, but sadly I neglected to think about installing storm windows...  would they help?   Or is there another source I can use to heat my house that would be greener?  I can't bundle myself in blankets or heavy clothes...I can't be that nice to our planet yet, I'm a bit spoiled.   Any ideas?

Thanks for the correction.  I based my "knowledge" on what my customers say to me (I sell American products in Germany)as we sometimes strike up conversations comparing our countries.  I also work at a camp with a large international staff from Checkoslovackia, Sweden ,Uk and other parts of Europe. But we Americans utilize the Lions Share of the the worlds resources and energy, but Japan and esp. China is catching up.

Sparks-Do you have a wood stove or fireplace insert?They can really help.We rarely use our heater unless we haven't been able to have a fire going.Mother Earth magazine has some passive solar heating ideas that are low cost and sound good too.

Ginger, I was thinking of having a fireplace when the house was first built...  I thought no, I will rarely use it because I have asthma... My occasional cigarette is bad enough.  lol   However, my neighbor has a wood burning fireplace and when I hang out with him and his wife I feel very comfortable.  Their house doesn't smell bad and I breath just fine.   I will have to look into wood stoves...great idea.  Thanks.

Sparks, using pellets instead of wood is greener, and better on your lungs. One of our daughters has a three bedroom house, one pellet stove - and that keeps the entire house warm. She lives up north where it is colder also. I have asthma, had it all my life - but I would never give up the fireplace! We just had to cut down three of our big ol' pine trees because of the bark beetle. We thought we'd cut and stack for next winter. A landscape contractor with whom my husband occasionally consults with said no way - get rid of it. The beetles would simply crawl from the logs to the next tree! So, we took it all to the dump. 

Joty-from what I've been told,once the tree is dead,the bark beetles have already left and you can keep and burn the wood.I had wanted a pellet stove,particularly for the thermostat and self loading,but the price was right on the wood stove,and then when the big freeze came a couple of years ago everyone ran out of pellets,so I was happy that we went with wood.I know I can always find wood.I have occasional asthma too,and asked a doctor about the pros and cons,and she said that central heating dries the air out so much that a fireplace insert or woodstove with a pot on top for humidity is actually better.