BUSINESS PROFILE:

Windsor Couple finds Gusto in Alternative Energy Source

Article by Suzanne Robicheau
Reprinted from the Halifax Herald (August 1,2005)

There’s no such as an ill wind for Tammy and Mark Richard.

The Windsor couple operate Second Source Power Company, a small but growing business specializing in alternative energy systems and power options that will keep the lights on when the power goes out.

“Without White Juan, our business might never have happened,” says Mark Richard, an electrician cum-alternative energy preacher. “Those storms changed the way people think.”

The storms not only changed the way Mr. Richard thought, but they transformed his career as well. Hurricane Juan made him restless, and as an electrician, he wasn’t happy to be totally dependent on the provincial grid. As an entrepreneur, he sensed an opportunity at hand.

It wasn’t long before he found himself selling generators. As he talked with customers and began reading about alternative energies, other possibilities emerged. He took several solar and wind power courses, and after more research, decided there was a future in renewable energy.

According to Natural Resources Canada, in the past decade, Canada has installed more than 200 megawatts of wind energy capacity. The Richards make their contribution to this figure from a six-employee shop in Windsor’s Avonian Plaza where sales associate Dave Hunter says they have a steady stream of customers.

“We see farmers, fishermen, people with remote camps, and others who are just interested in finding out more about alternative energy sources,” he noted.

Second Source Power Company sells generators so quickly they can hardly keep them in stock, but the wind turbines have really taken their business to a new level. New customers, like Janet and Brian Hamilton, are coming forward by the day.

The tower for Janet and Brian Hamilton’s one-kilowatt wind turbine was recently installed at their Sweet’s Corner home near Windsor. With an aluminum body and three 2.7 metre carbon fiber blades, the Whisper 200 system has a combined price tag of about $12,000.

After installing the system, the Hamiltons applied to Nova Scotia Power for net metering, a system that allows them to offset their monthly power bill by feeding the excess energy they produce back into the provincial grid. Brian Hamilton is hoping this measure will reduce their power bill by 50 per cent. He likes the idea of Nova Scotia Power doing the “heavy lifting” as he quietly generates power while sleeping through a windy night.

At Second Source, sales manager Hubert Legge and head electrician Gerard Davidson are busy preparing applications to Nova Scotia Power for grid ties and net metering for other local projects. About 60 per cent of the company’s business comes from the sale of wind turbines, and Legge believes that net metering will allow the average home system to pay for itself in five to eight years. And Nova Scotia’s 2006 rate hike of 15.9 per cent for residential and small business customers make free power an attractive proposition.

Second Source has plans for new locations in Truro and Halifax, and is offering franchise opportunities with the company, which will guarantee customers the security of a network of trained service people.