Just today, I was looking in my files of newspaper articles and magazines articles, looking for the right ones to bring to an upcoming presentation. A number of these newspaper article chronicle the incredible growth that the State of Michigan went through in late 2007. These same articles also show the incredible growth of Hybrid Homes and of me, Adam Bearup.
Here is a brief idea of what I am talking about.
The day after the 2007 GLREA Michigan Energy Fair, as everyone left town to go back to their lives, the full impact of what happened that weekend while showing the Onekama house had not hit home. I knew that with all of that exposure, there was bound to be something huge lurking in the shadows waiting to get me when I let my guard down. We worked the rest of the week following the 2007 Energy Fair, and it was not until I got home the following weekend, did I realize what the huge monster was that was lurking in the shadows...the nasty NIMBY neighbor! (Not In My Back Yard)
The Onekama House had a residential wind generator installed on its property. Because I knew that this house was going to have a wind generator, I tried to cover all the bases by talking with the township explaining what are plans were. I was told that we could have the wind generator with no problems, and that their ordinances only applied to "those commercial ones". The weekend that I got home from the 2007 Energy Fair, I was handed a letter from the township telling me that the wind generator had to come down because it was in violation of a local ordinance.....
At this point in Michigan's history, there were very few township ordinances for residential wind generators, and the ones that existed could be interpreted in any number of ways. The only organization that knew anything about my rights as the contractor was the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association (GLREA).
Throughout late August of 2007 thru November of 2007 a battle raged over the wind generator. I spent an incredible amount of money trying to fight the township over this wind generator. There was no one there to help me. I went to every level of government, including the federal government and none of them could help. I got lots of moral support, but that doesn't pay the bills. This was a very pricey thing to go through when you aren't taking that much money as it was. The only organization, as I mentioned above that stood shoulder to shoulder with me was the GLREA. I will never forget that. It was such a scary awful time as I cut a path into the future for those others who wanted a brighter future to follow, and right there, helping my to cut down the path, was the GLREA.
We ended up being able to keep the wind machine, but had to move it 100 feet to the north. This came at even more cost to me. It was so expensive to battle over this wind machine, that I am still paying for it, but for what it did for the State of Michigan, the price was worth it.
As I read these articles on the front pages of the areas newspapers, I see how vividly the articles tell the growth of renewable energy in this state and that area. The papers are yellowing, as if they are from some long ago time....relatively speaking, it was! What a difference 2 years can make! There are still issues to look for and be concerned with, but the Onekama House and the controversy that the wind generator caused forced the news into the mainstream in not only this state, but all over the country as well!
I will never forget that Fall of 2007. I could not go into any stores or restaurants (only a few there, not a big town) without people staring at me and talking under their breath. It was a sad time for me, as I am a people person. Big John and I would go to a restaurant to have breakfast and we would see the zoning board sitting with their friends talking about the case. The governor got a kick out of that when I told her. That wasn't legal, but that is how township law works. It was so lonely up in Onekama, I longed with everything I had to be back home where I had friends. But, we stuck it out and got through the problems and the rest is history.
2 years later, there are warriors that handle problems like I had in Onekama. The path is laid and the course is clear. A handful of us pioneers helped shape Michigan's future and these yellowing newspapers tell that story so well....what a difference 2 years can make!!
(for more information on that trying time or to read the articles, let me know, I am working on getting the newspaper articles scanned and online. The state government has all of the articles in their library.)
