Well, I dunno. . . .

I used to work with a fellow who built his own wind turbine and set it up in his back yard.   It supplied all the electrical needs of his house with lots to spare. In fact his meter was running backwards, and the neighbors, far from objecting to his tower (which was not all that high), became very interested in Randy's little windmill and the independence it gave him from the local power grid and its fluctuating rates.

But the backward running meter alerted Seattle City Light that something was going on. Inspectors started descending on him, only to discover that Randy had obtained all the necessary building permits (which didn't specifically mention windmills, but certainly did not forbid them), and everything was perfectly legal. Randy discovered that, according to the law, he could sell his excess electricity to City Light. City Light balked. Randy checked with an attorney, the attorney wrote a letter, and City Light continued to read the meter, but instead of sending Randy a bill, they sent him a check. But they were not happy about it.

Other inspectors started showing up. One was from either the FAA or CAB, I'm not sure which. Randy lives in south Seattle, not that far from the Seattle-Tacoma International airport. They cited him for his "tower" being a potential hazard to planes coming in to land. Randy said that any plane on its approach to the airport that was low enough to hit the "tower" was already in deep shit, and the windmill would be the least of its problems. Once more to the attorney's office. After a few shouting matches and a few more inspections, Randy agreed to put a flashing red light on the top of the windmill, and apparently they couldn't find anything more to bitch about that could conceivably hold water.

Randy's wind turbine is fairly quiet, it can be seen once you get close his neighborhood, but it's hardly "unsightly," and his neighbors think it's kinda cool! Randy hasn't paid an electric bill for some years now, and as I said, he gets a regular check from Seattle City Light.

The adage, "You can't fight city hall" is one of those sayings that's encouraged by city hall.

illegitami non carborundum!

Don Firth