New York State is between incentive programs for small wind and customers in the market for a household turbine have put their purchase on hold.
"We're in a holding pattern," says Ernie Pritchard of Sustainable Energy Developments in Ontario, New York.
Incentives for household wind have been a key part of developing the small wind industry. So key that Roy Butler, of Four Winds Renewable Energy outside Hornell, says he has postponed meetings with clients while the New York program is in flux. Even relatively tiny, low-power turbines can cost thousands of dollars.
"We're holding to see where the dust settles," Butler says, before clients go forward with this expensive purchase.
A representative of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which administers New York's incentive program, says the agency is reviewing the program which expired June 30. A determination will be made next week on whether to extend the policy in its current form through the end of the year.
