Demand for old windmills exceeds supply

Since word got out that the Princeton Municipal Light Department plans to replace its existing eight 100-foot windmills with two 230-foot wind towers, Manager Jonathan Fitch says he has been deluged with requests for the old windmills. "I have more people wanting to buy them than I have towers to sell," said Fitch at the August 25 light commissioners’ meeting. The windmills were installed on September 1984 on the westerly slope of Wachusett Mountain.

One of the windmills has already been promised to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The museum plans to use the unit to demonstrate the current and historical importance of alternative/renewable energy sources from a technological and community standpoint, according to J. Marc Greuther, Curator of Industry at the museum. The Henry Ford Museum boasts one of the most complete collections of electrical equipment ever assembled, including a Cape Cod windmill thought to be the oldest in the United States. Fitch said he received a call last week from the engineering department at Tufts University about the windmills. Tufts is doing preliminary research for the Thacher Island Association to see whether a windmill could be used to fire up their lighthouses, said Fitch. Approximately 6,000 feet of undersea electrical line is failing, he said. "They feel a small wind turbine would power the site and make electricity more reliable," he said.

The Department of Telecommunications & Energy and Tufts University are hoping for the newest of PMLD’s wind turbines, the 50,000-kilowatt unit, said Fitch. The DTE provided the light department with a $50,000 grant that paid for most of that unit, he said. "That would make DTE happy and we’d be happy if we find a good home for the unit," he added. The twin lighthouses on Thacher Island have stood guard over the coast of Cape Anne since 1771. The lighthouses overlook a 50-acre island three quarters of a mile off shore from the town of Rockport. They are America’s last and only operating twin lighthouses, marking a significant time in the country's maritime history. It was the first time a lighthouse marked a dangerous spot along the coast; all previous lighthouses were built simply to mark harbor entrances. The entire island and its structures have been designated as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service.