Cutchogue vineyard uses wind turbine power

Don't ever look for Long Island to resemble the Netherlands, but wind turbines are sprouting up here. The McCall Vineyard in Cutchogue has become the first grape-growing farm on Long Island to get some of its electricity from a wind turbine.

The turbine is the sixth installed this year under the Long Island Power Authority's Backyard Wind Program, according to utility chief Kevin Law. Four others were installed at private homes and another at a nursery. Law said 13 other applications are pending.

On Monday, Law, the outgoing LIPA chief executive, showed up at the 50-acre farm on Route 25 to commission the turbine. But Long Island will never look like the Netherlands, said Marc Clejan, a founder and managing director of GreenLogic Energy, which installed the turbine.

"I don't believe that's going to happen," said Clejan, whose 5-year-old company has offices on the East End and elsewhere on Long Island. Much of the Island, he said, is too densely populated to allow wind turbines to work properly.

And, Clejan added, a lot of people don't like the look of the turbines. Solar, Clejan said, "is for everyone." Nevertheless, the turbine at the McCall Vineyard is seen as a step forward because it's a step away from oil-produced energy.

McCall president Russell McCall said the vineyard has always wanted to be "self-sufficient" and "have a zero carbon footprint."

The turbine will produce about 12,501 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, which is expected to save McCall Vineyard $2,312 in electric costs annually. The electricity is to provide power to the tasting room. Under the Backyard Wind Program, McCall will receive a $43,753.50 LIPA rebate, which will help offset a large part of the cost of installing the turbine.

"We're going to be independent," McCall said. "This is one step."