Winery Owner Makes Red Wine the
Keith Johnstone, owner of Corrales Winery, doesn’t only make a great selection of
“I love the idea of being an energy producer, rather than just an energy consumer,” the former engineer explained. “The solar energy industry can be very beneficial for everyone.” Johnstone elaborated on the project saying that the energy his winery produces is still tied into the existing energy grid he used before, only this time, the energy he doesn’t use is sent throughout the grid for others to use. “Even on a cloudy day, the panels can generate more energy than my winery can use,” he said.
Not only will Johnstone’s investment be paid off in six to eight years, but it will also allow him to escape rising energy prices, and benefit him as he will receive a 10 percent tax credit from the state government, a 30 percent tax credit from the federal government, and the ability to depreciate the net cost of the system. This opportunistic winemaker admits that he’s been interested in doing this for years, but has been persuaded to move forward with it only recently because of the government support that’s involved. “This is well worth doing, and I would recommend it to anyone” he said. “It feels good!”
Johnstone added that he also was very pleased with the company he contracted with, based out of
Corrales Winery is located north of
-Erika L. Martinez,