CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

After decades of receiving significant subsidies from ratepayers and taxpayers, and recent assertions by the American Wind Energy Association that wind is "no longer an alternative energy source, it's mainstream", the industry's cries portend something else: that wind energy is uneconomical and cannot survive without government intervention. The Federal cost to extend the production tax credit for a single year is $7 billion, the most expensive item in the energy bill debated last Spring. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) subsidies for wind dwarf most fuel types at $23.37 MWh. Yet, what do we get for this "investment"?

A) An intermittent, unreliable (but very sexy) energy resource that does not deliver electricity during the very time of day and year when we need it the most.

B) A resource built hundreds of miles from load centers requiring up to a trillion dollars in public dollars to string transmission lines through undeveloped rich habitat, and

C) The requirement that up to 90% of the electricity from wind be matched with redundant generation to ensure reliability when the winds die down.

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