Eastford man making his own energy

Eastford -- A homeowner has turned a river on his property into an energy source which generates enough that Connecticut Light and Power gives him a check every month.

Rick Mackowiak's passion for power has resulted in a 13-year project to turn a river and a dam on his property into a hydro-electric plant. The dam creates a small pond behind it and that is where the project began.

"I divert a small portion of the river down (the) canal,"said Mackowiak.

The dam needed repairs, as did the canal, which channels the water to the turbine. The water turns a turbine which runs a generator and produces about 5 kilowats of electricity.

"We use a little more than half of what we produce and whatever we don't use we sell back to the utility company,"said Mackowiak,"CL&P sends us a check every month for that extra power."

http://www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1874411