Wind power won’t save us money
In his July 2 letter, Mr. Breen puts forth an argument for wind
power in Central New York based upon several mistaken assumptions.
New Yorkers now pay the most expensive electric bills in the nation.
Why would we want to drive those bills higher by involving ourselves
with a noncompetitive, higher-priced source of electricity like
so-called “free” wind power? If you add production tax credits,
accelerated depreciation, outright grants and other hidden subsidies,
there are additional costs attached to wind power amounting to tens of
millions of dollars a year.
There may or may not be a pending oil crisis. Fortunately, in this
state, oil is responsible for only nine percent of our electricity. In
any event, the limited potential of inherently unstable wind energy
cannot solve the problem of $60 per barrel for oil. Only the automobile
can do that.
Two thousand turbines would be needed to replace one mid-size
conventional power plant. That number would command many thousands of
acres. Huge amounts of carbon-based energy are expended in their
construction, transport, erection, maintenance, and, hopefully, proper
decommissioning. They begin to obsolesce in as little as 15 years. In
stand-by mode, they consume electricity. Still, no serious study has
been done to determine the resultant net production of energy. Some
critics have suggested it may be negative.
Wind energy is neither cheap, nor can it be plentiful. It may not even be clean.
The hot air Mr. Breen alludes to is actually blowing from the
direction of the industry lobby and those that will obtain a piece of
the $3.7 billion worth of opportunism and profiteering that Congress
has just granted them at the taxpayers’ expense. It is an old story. In
this state, the result is certain to be an increased cost of
electricity to households and industry.
Andy Minnig
Cherry Valley
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