By Carol Britton Meyer

The Hull Wind II turbine is expected to be back in service soon, according to Hull Municipal Light Board Chair Patrick Cannon.

The Hull Wind I turbine at Pemberton Point recently was demolished, while Hull Wind II at the former landfill remains offline, awaiting repairs to its computer system.

Hull LIght’s ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEM ALLOWS CUSTOMERS TO PAY THEIR BILLS ONLINE.

“We’re just waiting for a couple of bolts that broke off [to be delivered] -- it’s a small repair, but the turbine is old and it’s not as easy to get parts as it was before,” Cannon told The Hull Times. “Hopefully it will be up and running in a couple of weeks.”

Hull Wind II, which generates enough energy to power 800 homes on an annual basis when working at capacity, has been offline for some time due to necessary repairs.

Although Vestas, the company that installed Hull Wind II in 2006, opted out of its maintenance contract with the town some time ago when the agreement expired, another company was hired to perform the necessary maintenance on the remaining wind turbine.

In other light board news…

⦁ A rate study is in the beginning stages.

“We’ll be figuring out Hull Municipal Light Plant’s operating budget for the next three to five years with assistance from MMWEC [Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company],” Cannon said. “The cost of electricity and the costs associated with the line crews and the office staff, equipment, and other expenses will be considered, as any other business does, [and then the rate will be determined].”

The non-profit MMWEC, through an energy partnership established in 1969, assists Massachusetts municipal light departments such as Hull with their needs to contract for energy.

Further discussions related to the rate study will take place at future light board meetings and will be posted on the agenda, with opportunity for public input, according to Cannon.

• A new paperless billing system took effect this month “using new software that will bring us into the 21st century,” Cannon said. Visit https://hullmlp.com/smarthub/ for information about how to pay a bill online with a credit card or by phone.

Visit https://hullmlp.com/rates/HMLP to learn more about electricity rates and billing.

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