The residents of Hull, Mass., literally have the wind at their back.
Taking advantage of their location on the far east end of the Boston Harbor, the town is making the most of wind power. As its devoted 11,000 residents will tell you, wind energy makes sense. It’s clean, abundant, inexhaustible and local. Today, with wind turbines on either side of town, Hull receives about 12-13 percent of its electricity from wind.
We recently paid a visit to Hull to see how this seacoast community has achieved wind power, an energy source that could be incorporated throughout the United States with the proper resources, know-how and mentality. Wind is a key ingredient in powering America off foreign oil and achieving an emissions-free energy system; its giant turbines, parts of which are made in the U.S., could become symbols of green success.
“I love them,” says Wendy Love, a 16-year Hull resident who works at Weinberg’s Bakery. “When it’s windy, they are louder, but they don’t bother me. If energy costs go high enough maybe the U.S. will become more green like in Europe.”
Geri Calos, manager at Weinberg’s as well as administrator for the Hull Nantasket Chamber of Commerce, says, “The chamber is really into the green movement and working on strategies for more alternative energy.”
Richard Miller, operations manager of the Hull Municipal Light Plant (HMLP), says the town’s people have been very supportive of wind as an alternative energy source. “There has been no resistance on the part of the residents,” he says.
