Keys Energy Services is making the most of a state Clean Energy Grant it was awarded last summer. The most recent initiative — a pair of wind turbines — has been getting noticed a lot lately at the Lower Keys utility’s Cudjoe Key substation.
Keys Energy spokesman Julio Barroso said the utility plans to track how much energy the turbines produce and make the information available on its website. Barroso said the plan was to install one on Cudjoe Key and another on Stock Island, but instead both were put in the same location.
The smaller turbine is 35 feet tall, the maximum height allowed under county rules. Keys Energy got a waiver to install the other one at 52 feet.
“It’s always been said the Keys aren’t a good area for wind generation. Our thinking was to gain some information and see if height had something to do with it,” he said. “They’re definitely there for a year and we’ll see if we want to keep them both there or move another to perhaps the Stock Island substation. There’s no plans one way or the other.”