Wind turbine first of its kind in USA

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Business hopes to run on energy from wind turbine

Updated: Wednesday, 18 Mar 2009, 7:25 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 18 Mar 2009, 5:39 PM EDT

New Haven (WTNH) - Another Connecticut business has decided to go green. A family-owned business is getting ready for a massive wind turbine that will help generate power.

Phoenix Press said they've always been interested in reducing their carbon footprint. About three years ago, one of the owners was walking around on their property near the Quinnipiac, his hair was blowing around like mad, and that gave him an idea.

It takes a lot of energy to run a printing press, over 400,000 kilowatts a year at Phoenix Press in New Haven. But soon they'll be generating their own energy in the most peculiar way.

"We have some wind studies but it all depends on the wind and how the wind blows for us in the future," said Brian Driscoll of Phoenix Press.

They say it's the first of its kind in the country; a wind turbine large enough to power a commercial enterprise of this size. Its base will stand 120-feet tall, 150 with the blades. And, if Mother Nature cooperates, it should generate a third of what they consume at Phoenix Press.

It should also help save them big bucks.

"I'm hoping, you know, between $40-$60,000 a year," said Driscoll.

For the family-owned and operated business, going green was a no-brainer.

"We would've been kind of disappointed if we weren't the first to do this," said Kevin Driscoll of Phoenix Press.

The turbine will cost $500,000 dollars to put up, about half of which was covered by a grant from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. And the plan is to use it as an educational tool as well.

After three years in the making, the Driscoll brothers hope to have it up and running by this fall. They say they expect it will become a local landmark coming around the curve of the New Haven harbor.

"People are gonna recognize it just the way that they would recognize the Q-bridge," said Kevin.

If all goes well, Phoenix Press would like to put in a second wind turbine in the future. The city of New Haven is also planning to put up a smaller turbine as a test project on Long Wharf. Both those projects are coming up at the City Plan Committee tonight and are expected to pass.