The Sisk project is back on the LURC drawing board. The LURC commissioners rejected their initial proposal for 15 turbines but now TransCanada has been given another go at their ill-conceived plan to expand their northern Franklin County wind turbine empire.
We hear the same arguments about jobs and green power time and time again but little is publicly acknowledged about the actual delivery of wind power. While TransCanada will not release their data about Maine wind power generation, other areas in the U.S. and elsewhere have been studied. I have recently seen three studies, one each from Colorado, Texas, and the UK, that have looked at the energy economics and carbon impact of wind power.
In no case was wind energy effective in substantially decreasing carbon emissions and in one case, Texas, the analysis indicated a net carbon cost. This was due to the need to inefficiently cycle back up natural gas turbines in tandem with the wind generation, and the net decrease in efficiency outweighed any wind based carbon offset.
Spain has now conducted this experiment on yet a larger scale. There, where it is very windy, wind can make up as much as 25 percent of their energy portfolio yet they have not realized a carbon benefit from wind. Because of wind’s high rate of subsidy, power prices have gone up, hitting consumers during a serious recession.
On the other hand, as in many parts of the world, increasing demand there has far outstripped the capacity of green energy, so it seems to remain the case that if we hope to halt the rise in CO2 emissions we must tackle the demand side head on. Putting our faith in wind energy as a path to either energy independence or a carbon solution serves only as a costly distraction. How costly? In the U.S. wind, on a megawatt basis, gets more subsidy than either gas or coal. And the cost of wind power, per kilowatt generated, is going up, not down as the industry “matures.”
Why? Higher than expected maintenance costs, greater than expected equipment failures. Wind has not proven to be reliable and where applied widely has only succeeded in driving up the cost of power.
Nowhere in the world have citizens willingly accepted expensive power. I hope Maine does not provide an exception by allowing the wind industry to continue to ravage our landscape to their own ends.
Steve Bien
Jay
Thank you Steve for doing the research. How do we stop the destruction of our mountains and waste of our tax dollars?
The idea that we have to destroy our environment in order to save our environment doesn’t make sense.
Steve is right on. For example, coal-fired power plants are the worst because although the steam turbines can be neutralized to accommodate extra power when the wind surges, they have to keep the coal fired-furnaces fired up, billowing high pollution from their stacks so that the turbines can be put right back on when the wind suddenly dies.
Because TransCanada placed their transmission pole towers too far apart (saved money they thought), the severe ice build up at Kibby made the lines sag severely. They are now redesigning and laying out new pole towers. The tool box approach at work. Create dangerous situations by cutting corners for a quick profit, then spend more subsidized money to fix it later at more expense than the profit.
Many people who favor wind factories don’t know the real facts. They instead rely on pie-in-the-sky promises of cheap power and lower taxes that are a part of the sales pitch of the profiteers.
More and more Mainers are beginning to see the truth.
You can start to stop the destruction of our mountians by protesting the expansion at Sugarloaf. Maybe even start a movement to shut down the ski areas and let the forests regrow. I bet a good percentage of the anti wind power fanatics ski on those slopes. I’ve been within 200 yards of one of the turbines on Kibby Mt. while it was turning and I could barely hear it.
Is there any way to stop this wind power movement before it’s too late? I can already see the writing on the wall – the destruction of Maine mountains and woods, and for so little power or money coming back at Maine.
This is big business, and once they rush all of this into effect, it’s going to be too late. Remember that television commercial with the Native American man crying as he looked at the destruction of nature? Well, that’s going to be us, looking at our mountains and woods after they are gutted.
If there were years of research and lengthy discussions vs. big business rushing wind power through, the people of Maine would probably say no thanks, or maybe – get the hell out of here. The speedy approach is what makes me so suspicious. Lobbying and subsidies cloud, hide, and confuse the truth. The majority of us can’t read between the lines fast enough to effectively make intelligent decisions. It makes it easier to pull off this crime against nature in the name of saving the environment.
The thing I hate about lobbyists is that they say things the way they need to be said to get what they want. They twist the truth and omit telling us things we need to know. Here’s an analogy for you – your teenager asks to borrow the car,but doesn’t tell you they are taking it cross country.
That’s like the wind power folks telling us that the wind mills won’t damage our mountains, omitting what giant power lines will be needed, and what they will do to our landscape. Most people haven’t even thought about the monster power lines running by or through their property or favorite natural wonders in our beautiful state.
My Momma always said that money talks, and the older I get, the more I can here it screaming.
With so many people not paying attention to this issue because they trust that our leaders are watching out for us and our state, this is going to get rammed down our throats before most people even see it coming.
While the masses of people put their free time into watching idiots on reality shows live, they are not seeing the corruption taking place in the ultimate reality show – our own world.
Mac you’ve totally missed the point. The expansion at Sugarloaf does not require ripping the top off the mountain or running new power lines across our wild and scenic mountains.The expansion will create far less destruction then the huge swathes of clear cuts one now views on the way to Sugarloaf .The expansion will provide more jobs for local workers and strengthen the local economy. Lots of pluses. And I doubt Boyne East will be receiving the huge tax subsidies Trans Canada now enjoys. So Mac, can you elaborate for us why it is so important to subsidies a Canadian Corporation, which will profit handsomely from our tax dollars, while defacing our landscape when studies prove that wind farms don’t actually reduce carbon emissions or the cost of electricity?
I find both your letter and the comments short on facts and long on opinion. You state your opinion of studies, but do not list the studies. I have an open mind on the subject, but look for published facts, which appear hard to find. Our future depends on a sober evaluation of hard facts, not emotional responses.
Research is the key to unraveling the facts of wind generated wind power. We have seen the impacts on costs to ratepayers ( increasing ). We have data on carbon reduction ( very little, if any ). We have data on foreign oil imports ( no decrease ). All that is green is not always good. Thank you, the citizens, for putting in the time to research and discover the truth about wind power, the worst energy approach in an ailing economy.
These same people who wail and moan about the wind turbines may be silent 10-20 years from now if oil is 7 bux a gallon and they get power made right here in Maine. I still have not heard one person here tell me where we will get our power from in the future? Canada? Maybe, at what cost? Also, most of the people who comment here have no idea how the power grid works, or, even how electricity in generated. Regardless of what anyone thinks about these turbines, every watt they produce is one thats not produced by burning oil or coal. You people slam the Canadian company behind this project repeatedly. How dumb are they I wonder? Here they are producing clean power with wind and more importantly hydro power,more than they can use, and we americans sit here and wail and whine about it while we remove our dams and fight wind and nuclear power. We have the ability to produce our own power right here at home, but no…..we’ll just rely on Canada to sell us the power we need, HOPEING they will just keep prices down and keep us happy.The number of people in this country who have completely abandoned the idea of self reliance is astounding. These same people who rely on others for everything will be the ones who scream the loudest when their services are interupted. You people whine and complain ,but have no idea how to meet our energy needs.. Insulating attics and putting solar panels on our schools isnt going to cut it. These are “feel good “ideas, and feel good ideas are worthless. Rumford native…..”neutralize coal powerplants? Does this mean they are taken out and shot? I thought the term was idled, or throttled back, which is what they would do. Coal is dirty? Fine, lets convert them to natural gas instead…….no???” How come? Evirowhiners will never be happy no matter what anyone does. They will complain till the cows come home, all while enjoying the benifits of energy produced by the builders and doers of this country of ours.
There are many things about the Trans-Canada/Sisk application process which are disturbing. First and foremost is the ‘straw poll’ which the LURC commissioners took in July. Is that standard practice? To take a public pre-vote before they’ve deliberated on all the evidence and information submitted? Or was that a not-so-subtle ploy? Since beginning the study of the topic of industrial wind on the mountains of Maine, I have had good reason to question the actions and the motives of many in our government agencies. In my opinion, that ‘straw poll’ was planned and had a purpose. I believe that the commissioners were giving Trans-Canada a signal. I think they were saying “Look. Unless you make some changes to your application, we are going to have to deny your permit. You have 30 days… get busy!” And busy, T-C got! Not only did they re-work their app, but they removed their request to have the land added to the expedited permitting zone. Their most ardent supporters leapt to the wind company’s defense in the days leading up to the August LURC meeting, flooding the newspapers with castigations against LURC for daring to hint that the permit was not ‘in the bag’. And while Trans-Canada got the message and their high-priced lawyers went to work, that same straw vote falsely convinced the intervenors to let their guard down. They actually believed in ‘the process’. Until 3 business days before the August meeting…
What happened at that meeting, and in the days preceding it when T-C submitted their revised permit application and withdrew another, was a travesty. It should not have been allowed. And now, the intervenors have been denied a new public hearing, with LD2283 used as a reason for denial. It is T-C who is slowing the process. If the public has to be confined by the 270 day time-frame imposed by this misguided law, then the developers most certainly should have to. Absolutely.
This whole thing reeks, and the ‘process’ is an embarrassment to the people of Maine. Mainers want the facts, and Mainers want fairness. It’s time to stop showing favoritism to powerful developers, and allow the good citizens of this state to play on a level field.
so why dont mainers put one of them lilltle wind turbines on your roof ? there bunches of them out there for sale an will produce all the power ya need for a single house, so stop whinning an just get off the grid.