In this June 5, 2019 photo, Natural Power Group co-owner Sarah Bower-Terbush cleans debris from the canal that feeds the company’s hydroelectric site in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. She and her husband sell renewable power to local customers from three hydroelectric sites they operate in the Hudson Valley. Customers say they like investing their money locally in clean power. (AP Photo/Michael Hill)Eat locally. Shop locally. Generate locally?
Some electricity customers in New York’s Hudson Valley support hydropower harnessed from running water close to home.
The idea is similar to farm-to-table, except for electricity instead of food.: green-minded customers supporting an area renewable resource. And smaller hydro plants like those run by Harry Terbush and Sarah-Bower Terbush have a different way to keep their turbines turning.
“It’s community energy, and it allows us to sell directly to customers, and allows them to get a little more benefit of what’s in their backyard,” said Sarah Bower-Terbush.
The husband-and-wife engineers running Natural Power Group have been maintaining hydro sites north of New York City for three decades. The trio of sites they operate now are “run of the river” that rely on flowing water. The steel-encased turbines are modern, but sites have a long history of producing power.