Sequestration Nation: DoD doles out $7 billion in wind-energy contracts
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 1:06 PM
Remember, earlier
this year, when the Obama administration was transforming each and every
sequestration budget cut into some nightmarishly dire prediction about how each
and every major department wouldn’t be able to perform the full extent of their
absolutely and irrevocably essential duties? It would seem that, even as there
are Defense Department employees being furloughed and Secretary Hagel warns
of more layoffs and our military
slims down on equipment, training programs, and etcetera, the Pentagon
evidently continues to prioritize the forceful implementation of so-called
“green” and “renewable” sources into their energy repertoire.
Via Reuters:
The U.S. Army has
picked 17 companies that will be eligible to receive orders for wind energy
under an umbrella contract valued at up to $7 billion, the Pentagon said on Monday….
Hiding ‘Avian Mortality’: Where Green is Red (Part I: Altamont Pass)
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 9:31 AM
“The wind
industry is hiding over 90% of the bird and bat mortality caused by their
turbines. This statement is supported by the industry’s own data and reasonable
adjustments for its manipulations.”
“The wind industry is … producing faulty, misleading and even fraudulent documents to hide the serious and growing mortality. This situation has continued for years but has been shielded by state and federal agencies and other supporters of wind power.”
Assessment on Wind Energy in New York State by Energy Analyst, Glenn Schleede
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 4:22 PM
September 2, 2013
New York’s Ongoing Wind Energy Mistakes
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) provides on its web site[1] many
claims about the great progress and benefits achieved by promoting and
subsidizing wind energy in the state – an initiative kicked off by
former Governor Pataki and followed slavishly by each succeeding
administration and legislature.
Unfortunately,
like other promoters of wind energy, the DEC article tells less than
half the true story about very high cost, low value electricity from
wind energy and ignores completely its adverse environmental, economic,
electric system reliability impacts, and its damaging impact on ordinary
citizens, taxpayers, and electricity users in New York.
For example, the
DEC article doesn't mention (a) incessant noise from wind turbine, (b)
birds and bats killed by the huge machines, (c) the destruction of
landscape, natural resources, scenic vistas, and animal habitat during
construction and thereafter, or (d) the damage to property values and
quality of life of those unfortunate enough to live near “wind farms.”
Neither does the
DEC mention the high cost and low value of electricity from wind
turbines. The low true value of electricity from wind turbines is due
to their intermittent, volatile, and unreliable output and their
tendency to produce electricity primarily at night in cold and shoulder
months when electricity is least needed, rather than on hot summer
weekday late afternoons when demand is high.
Looking beyond the
misleading DEC article, the fact that political leaders continue to
push wind energy is particularly difficult to understand when looking at
the following facts:
1. New
York’s first 15 “wind farms” completed before the end of 2010 have a
total rated (or nameplate) capacity of 1,273.9 megawatts (MW). During 2012 these 15 “wind farms” produced 2,321,500 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity. [2] Assuming very conservative capital cost numbers, the capital cost of these 15 “wind farms” in NY was probably around $2 billion.
The predominate demand for electricity in
New York state is in the New York City (NTC) area. However, NY’s “wind
farms” are located in upstate and western New York so the output from
these “wind farms” must be transmitted to the NYC area, adding to the
cost of the electricity and adding environmental damage when additional
transmission capacity must be provided.
2. Now
consider a logical alternative: A single 450 MW gas-fired combined
cycle generating unit (or two 225 MW units) located near NYC, operating
at only a 60% capacity factor, could have supplied just as much
electricity — actually 2,365,200 MWh[3] –
with about one fourth of the capital cost and with less overall cost to
consumers and taxpayers when fuel and O&M costs are added.
Furthermore,
the gas-fired generating units would be reliable and dispatchable and
thus available when needed, including times of peak electricity demand.
Electricity is available from wind turbines only when wind speeds are in
the “right” range.[4] They are highly unlikely to produce much electricity during times of peak demand, so they have little or no “capacity value.”
Also, there would be no need to add
transmission capacity to bring wind-generated electricity to the NYC
area from upstate and western NY. Finally, a factor that should be important to political leaders: a gas-fired generating unit would provide many more long lasting jobs than “wind farms.”
The
apparent low regard that NY political leaders have for the people and
organizations dependent on electricity is illustrated by the extremely
high electric bills that result from the state’s policies. The average
electricity price for residential customers in New York in 2012 was
17.69 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), while the nationwide average in
2012 was 11.88 cents per kWh.[5]
Therefore,
New York’s average residential electricity prices are 53% above the
national average. A New York resident using 6,500 kWh of electricity
per year will pay about $400 per year more for his or her electricity
than if New York’s electricity prices were at the national
average. (Only Alaska, with 17.84 cents per kWh and Hawaii with 37.27
cents per kWh had higher prices.) Consider the job and other local
economic benefits if New York had allowed its approximately 8,000,000
residential electric customers to spend $400 per year – that would be
$3.2 billion -- in their local economies.
Unfortunately, the
New York States’ Department of Environmental Conservation web site
article cited earlier is but one example of the way that government
officials and employees now use tax dollars to distribute false and
misleading information that protects and promotes bad policies, helps
special interest groups such as the wind industry, and/or promotes their
personal preferences.
Glenn R. Schleede (former western New Yorker)
20647 Golden Ridge Drive
Ashburn, VA 20147
Troubled wind project target of FBI scrutiny, industry criticism
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 6:51 PM
The
Goodhue project made national news because it was going to be built in a
major bald eagle migration and nesting area near the Mississippi River,
and was an important golden eagle migration and wintering location. The
man being investigated is the former head of Noble Power (Energy) whose
activities were looked at by the NY Attorney General several years ago (but who did nothing).
The article depicts how the wind companies change names in quick
succession.
Troubled wind project target of FBI scrutiny, industry criticism
Credit: Brett Boese |
August 31, 2013 |
www.postbulletin.com ~~
ZUMBROTA — The New Era
wind project appears likely to have its state-issued permits revoked
this fall after missing two deadlines that required it to either begin
construction or surrender its permits by Aug. 23, according to a
Minnesota Public Utilities spokesperson.
That course of action could finally close the book on what’s been the most controversial wind project in state history.
The 78-megawatt project was first
proposed in 2008 by National Wind. During the past five years, five
lawsuits have been filed, ownership has changed hands twice, fines have
been levied for illegal lobbying and — in the most recent development —
the Federal Bureau of Investigation apparently has conducted interviews
as part of a potential fraud investigation.
Four local critics of the $180 million wind project, representing
opposition groups Goodhue Wind Truth and the Coalition for Sensible
Siting, say they spent a January morning in St. Paul detailing their
concerns to two FBI investigators. Developers have spent more than $15
million seeking state permits, according to a filing at the PUC, while
local opposition has spent six figures in the protracted legal battle.
“(The FBI is) always interested
to hear from citizens,” said Marie McNamara, a Goodhue farmer who
co-founded Goodhue Wind Truth. “I remember them saying they were hearing
concerns from other citizens across Minnesota (about the wind
industry). Overall, we were concerned about a lot of shenanigans. We
were concerned about the investments and money being lost by local
people.”
Read the rest of the article at:
The main thing being produced by UK offshore Wind Farms - RUST....and CO2
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 9:38 AM
The main thing being produced by UK offshore Wind Farms - RUST....and CO2
Excerpted from the article:
A source close to the matter comments:
“When UK Wind Farms started going offshore, much of the same mast
technology (and where and how it is attached to the base) that was used
on land, was just scaled up for the bigger ones out at sea. The sea and
spray has already proved considerably more corrosive than was
anticipated, which will either lead to massive additional maintenance
costs, or a much shorter life for these offshore wind farms. In either
case, it will do no good at all to the viable economics of generating
electricity from offshore wind farms.”
Metal experts are giving evidence to the latest piece of arbitration
about offshore in London this week. This is what I have been able to dig
up thus far about the case: corrosion protection is always the last
step during a turbine production process. The early versions for the
North Sea are woefully under-protected (thanks to Sir Humphrey) and the
second wave was skimped – thanks to the EU: with the dash to get our
renewable numbers up, pressure was, it seems, applied to the paint
process to make up for lost time.
At that time, the Environment Secretary was none other than….Ed
Miliband. As it happens, I actually attended the key Commons debate with
partners in crime Anna Raccoon and Old Holborn. Mr Miliband told the
media at the time that “opposition to wind farms is socially
unacceptable” – another bit of classic New Labour pc assertion.
The Secretary of State concerned today, badger-gassing Owen Paterson, is in no doubt at all about inland viability. He told
Farmer’s Weekly last year that such developments don’t work because
“there is no wind there”. Owen didn’t get where he is today without
knowing a flaw when he sees one.
“I don’t personally think that inland wind farms are effective at
reducing carbon,” he continued, “I don’t even think they are effective
at producing energy.".............Read the entire article at: http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/exclusive-the-main-thing-being-produced-by-uk-offshore-wind-farms-rust-and-co2/
As we witness another Wyoming County town being turned into an industrial wind factory, the Wyoming County Board of Supervisors has informed us that "Wyoming Co. has ‘little choice’ but to waive NY’s property tax cap." (Story, Aug. 14.)
This confirms what state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli pointed out in a May 2, 2012, news article: Giving multi-billion dollar corporations Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes agreements (PILOTs), "effectively shifts the burden of taxation onto local residents and small businesses."
See more
Mr. DiNapoli was exactly right. Invenergy and their ilk are smiling all the way to the bank, while the rest of us get to pick up their share of the tab.
If that wasn’t bad enough, state Comptroller DiNapoli also pointed out that these multi-millions of dollars in "tax breaks have not been effective in creating jobs."
No new jobs. Higher property taxes. No sense of community due to the "Hurray me — tough luck for you" mentality evident in the wind debacle. Is it any wonder many people are leaving New York state?
When one of the Big Wind salesmen was overheard to say in a local restaurant in Wyoming County years ago, "We’re going to get rich off of these hicks," they were right. Big Wind is getting richer, while we are all getting poorer — thanks to the help they’ve received from elected officials at every level who are selling out our towns and their residents from within.
Perhaps it’s time citizens demanded their local officials first pass a math and reading comprehension test before being allowed to run for office. "Public servants" in charge of spending our money first need to know how to morally and competently run a successful business — which means knowing how to balance the books without having to sell the entire town out for what amounts to a complete fraud!
The Reality of New York Wind
Consider the readily available information we’ve been sharing for years:
The actual output (capacity factor) of New York state’s 16 wind factories in 2012 was 23.5 percent. Any other piece of equipment that had such an abysmal performance record would have been dubbed a lemon and relegated to the trash heap a long time ago.
Consider the fact that one single 450 MW gas-fired combined cycle generating unit located near New York City (where the power is needed in NYS), operating at only a 60 percent capacity factor, could have supplied more electricity than all of NYS’s wind factories combined — at approximately 1/4 of the capital cost of the wind factories, and without the added costs of transmission lines to NYC.
Furthermore, that ONE single 450 MW gas-fired combined cycle generating unit would have significantly reduced CO2 emissions and created far more permanent jobs in New York State -- WITHOUT all the civil discord, environmental degradation, negative human health impacts, massive bird and bat mortality caused by these giant "Bird Cuisinarts," and the property value losses that sprawling wind factories create - both at the ‘wind farm’ sites, and due to all the added transmission lines that must be added to NYC.
Wind’s unreliable, diffuse energy provides no modern power — period. As William Tucker explained in his essay, "Understanding E = mc2":
"The release of energy from splitting a uranium atom turns out to be 2 million times greater than breaking the carbon-hydrogen bond in coal, oil or wood. Compared to all the forms of energy ever employed by humanity, nuclear power is off the scale. Wind has less than 1/10th the energy density of wood, wood half the density of coal and coal half the density of octane. Altogether they differ by a factor of about 50. Nuclear has 2 million times the energy density of gasoline ... Our energy future largely depends on grasping the significance of this differential."
See more
If our state and local "representatives" goal is to chase more people and businesses out of New York state by:
1. destroying the natural beauty and wildlife of rural NYS;
2. ignoring the health, safety and welfare of area citizens;
3 devaluing NYS citizens’ most expensive life investments — their homes; and
4. "skyrocketing" our tax and electricity rates ...
Pursuing the "green" energy boondoggle of wind power is a sure means to that end. Consider your mission accomplished. Such a senseless, crying shame!
As wise old Solomon told us in Ecclesiastes, "Surely this also is vanity and chasing after the wind."
Mary Kay Barton lives at Silver Lake.
The Devil Went Down to Orangeville, by Cathi Orr - Clear Skies Over Orangeville
"The Devil went down to Orangeville. He was looking for souls to steal ... He was in a bind because he was way behind and he was willing to make a deal ..."
He came upon the Orangeville politicians and they were willing to sell their town for personal financial gain ... and so the backroom deal started with several Town Board members, Planning and Zoning Board officials, friends and families. The Devil knew of the oaths of public office ... to protect health, safety and welfare of the taxpaying landowners of Orangeville ... so a Devil’s Deal would be made all the sweeter if he could get these public officials to turn their backs on their oaths of public office ... and on the very people who trusted them with their vote. And a Devil’s Deal was struck ... very sweet indeed.
Congratulations to Councilman Tom Schabloski whose personal real estate is now home to several 43-story-tall industrial-scale wind turbines........
Read the entire article
Buffalo News: Could Ohio’s Lake Erie windmills renew effort here? - See more at: http://citizenpowerallianceblog.blogspot.com/#sthash.OklEKRIZ.dpuf
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 8:48 PMBuffalo News: Could Ohio’s Lake Erie windmills renew effort here?
An
environmental riddle is brewing off the shores of Lake Erie, and its
answer is blowing in the wind.The planned launch of a wind turbine
demonstration project seven miles off of Cleveland’s lakeshore in Ohio –
the first of its kind on the Great Lakes – has politicians, developers
and labor there on board. That’s a totally different vibe from what took
place in Buffalo Niagara in 2009 and 2010, when the New York Power
Authority gauged...
“Chasing After the Wind” A Net LOSER for Wyoming County, and ALL American Taxpayers & Ratepayers
0 comments Posted by Unknown at 10:45 PM
8/25/13 Warsaw Penny Saver - Page
6/7:
“Chasing After the Wind”
A Net LOSER for Wyoming County,
and ALL American
Taxpayers & Ratepayers
As
we witness another Wyoming County Town (Orangeville) being turned into an
industrial wind factory, the Wyoming County Board of Supervisors has informed
us that "Wyoming Co. has 'little choice' but
to waive NY's property tax cap."
This
confirms what NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli pointed out in a May 2, 2012 news
article: Giving Multi-Billion dollar corporations
Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes agreements (PILOTs), "effectively shifts the burden of taxation onto local residents and small
businesses." (See more at: http://tinyurl.com/d6t2aps)
Mr.
DiNapoli was exactly right. Invenergy and their ilk are smiling all the way to
the bank, while the rest of us get to pick up their share of the tab.
If that
wasn’t bad enough, NYS Comptroller
DiNapoli also pointed out that these Millions of Dollars in “tax breaks have NOT been effective in
creating jobs.”
No new
jobs. Higher property taxes. No sense of community due to the “Hurray me – Tough luck for you”
mentality evident in the wind debacle. Is it any wonder many people are
leaving New York State?
When one of
the Big Wind salesmen was overheard to say in a local restaurant in Wyoming
County years ago, "We're going to get rich off of these hicks," they
were right. Big Wind is getting
richer, while we are all getting poorer - thanks to the help they've
received from elected officials at every level who are selling out our Towns
and their residents from within.
Perhaps
it’s time citizens demanded their local officials first pass a math and reading
comprehension test before being allowed to run for office. "Public
servants" in charge of spending OUR money first need to know how to
morally and competently run a successful business - which means knowing how to
balance the books without having to sell the entire Town out for what amounts
to a complete FRAUD!
The REALITY of New York Wind
Consider
the readily available information we've been sharing for years:
The actual output
(Capacity Factor) of NY’s 16 wind factories in 2012 was 23.5%. Any other piece of
equipment that had such an abysmal performance record would have been dubbed
a LEMON and relegated to the trash
heap a long time ago.
Consider
the fact that ONE
single 450 MW gas-fired combined cycle generating unit located near New York City (where the
power is needed in NYS), operating at only a 60% capacity factor, could have
supplied more electricity than all of NYS's wind factories combined - at approximately
1/4 of the capital cost of the wind factories, and WITHOUT the added costs of
transmission lines to NYC.
Furthermore,
that ONE single 450 MW gas-fired combined cycle generating unit would have
significantly reduced CO2 emissions and created far more permanent jobs in New
York State –
WITHOUT all the civil discord, environmental
degradation, negative human
health impacts,
massive bird and bat mortality,
and the property value losses that sprawling wind factories create - both at
the 'wind farm' sites, and due to all the added transmission lines that must be
added to New York City.
Wind's
unreliable, diffuse energy provides NO modern power - period. As William
Tucker explains in his essay, Understanding E = mc2:
“Wind has less than 1/10th the energy
density of wood, wood half the density of coal and coal
half the density of octane. Altogether they differ by a factor of about
50. Nuclear has 2 million times
the energy density of gasoline.... Our energy future largely depends on
grasping the significance of this differential."
(See more at: http://tinyurl.com/lr4lprb , www.WiseEnergy.org/ , and www.EnergyPresentation.org/)
If our state and local “representatives” goal is to chase more people and businesses
out of New York State by:
1.) destroying the natural beauty and wildlife of rural New York State;
2.) ignoring the health, safety and welfare of area citizens;
3.) devaluing NYS citizens' most expensive life investments - their homes; and
4.) "skyrocketing" our tax and electricity rates.......
Pursuing the ‘green’ energy boondoggle of wind power is a sure means to that end.
Consider your mission accomplished. Such a senseless, crying shame!
As
wise old Solomon told us in Ecclesiastes,
“Surely
this also is vanity and chasing after the wind.”
Mary
Kay Barton
Mary Kay is a life-long NYS resident, small business owner, retired Health Educator,
Friend & Supporter of the citizens of ‘Clear Skies Over Orangeville’
Here
is the link to an article posted at the Erie Times today. I have
pasted my original entire submission below, as it includes links, and
important point about the added costs of transmission lines that were
edited out.http://www.goerie.com/article/20130823/OPINION08/308239986/Guest-Voice%3A-Don%27t-believe-claims-about-wind-power
Guest Voice: Don't believe claims about wind power
Chasing after the wind a costly, futile effort
Matt Walker made many claims about problems caused by "fracking," and benefits he believes are inherent with "renewables," in his 8/12/13 opinion piece, "Erie should focus on clean energy," while not providing a shred of evidence to back up any of his claims. While it is true that there are problems that come along with the development of any energy source, wind is no exception. And while it may come as a surprise to those in the Alarmist camps, the fact is that there is a direct correlation between improved health and longevity in the United States, and the availability of reliable, affordable power here in the U.S. (ie: coal, natural gas, nuclear and hydro).
Let’s consider the results to date of the $Billions of dollars that taxpayers and ratepayers have been forced to fork over to Mr. Walker's’ favored “wind power” sector.
First of all, people need to realize that it is the same big, "bad" oil, coal, gas and nuclear corporations who own industrial wind factories (many of whom have not paid any taxes in the U.S. in years) - ie: GE, BP, FPL, AES, E.On, Iberdrola, etc. Initiated by ENRON in the U.S., industrial wind is most useful to these giant corporations as a tax shelter generator.
Because
wind is NOT reliable, predictable, or dispatchable, it provides
virtually NO Capacity Value, or firm capacity (specified amounts of
power on demand). Thus, wind needs constant "shadow capacity" from our
reliable, conventional power sources, and can NOT replace conventional
generators. With approximately 200,000 industrial wind turbines
installed worldwide today, wind has NOT significantly reduced CO2
emissions - anywhere. Rounded to nearest whole number, the total
worldwide electric generation from wind today is ZERO! That's right -
ZERO!
Consider New York State’s experience with wind to date.
I live in Wyoming County of Western New York State - not far from Erie. There are already 250 industrial wind turbines sprawling throughout entire towns here, with another 59 going up this summer. Contrary to Mr. Walker's claims, NO meaningful permanent jobs have been created here, and nobody is getting free, or reduced rate electricity either. In fact, quite the opposite is true. New York State has been cited as having the most expensive utility rates in the continental U.S.
I live in Wyoming County of Western New York State - not far from Erie. There are already 250 industrial wind turbines sprawling throughout entire towns here, with another 59 going up this summer. Contrary to Mr. Walker's claims, NO meaningful permanent jobs have been created here, and nobody is getting free, or reduced rate electricity either. In fact, quite the opposite is true. New York State has been cited as having the most expensive utility rates in the continental U.S.
Much
of what used to be one of the most beautiful areas in New York, has
been turned into a sprawling industrial wind factory. Many of my
friends’ homes have been rendered virtually worthless. Let's be real -
Would you buy and move your family into a home with 430+ foot-tall
towers and their 7-ton blades spinning overhead - only hundreds of feet
from your home??? I have yet to meet anyone who would.
And what have we gotten for all this environmental and civic degradation?
NY's
16 installed wind factories produced an average 23% Capacity Factor
(actual output) in 2012. Which one of you would buy a car that only
operated 23% of the time? You wouldn't. You couldn't afford to. It's
that simple. Any other piece of equipment that had such an abysmal performance record would have been dubbed a LEMON and relegated to the trash heap a long time ago.
Consider the fact that ONE single 450 MW gas-fired combined cycle generating unit
located near New York City (where the power is needed in New York
State), operating at only a 60% capacity factor, could have supplied
more electricity than all of New York State's 16 installed "wind farms"
combined. AND, that ONE single 450 MW gas-fired combined cycle
generating unit would significantly reduced CO2 emissions -- with only
about 1/4 of the capital cost of the wind factories --
WITHOUT the unwarranted civic and environmental degradation, negative human health impacts, massive bird and bat mortality caused by these giant "Bird Cuisinarts,"
and the property value losses that sprawling wind factories create -
both at the "wind farm" sites, and due to all the added transmission
lines that must be added to NYC.
Furthermore,
that ONE gas-fired plant would actually create REAL, full-time jobs --
unlike the "wind farms," which have been figured to cost $11.45 Million per job created, and as a result, cost over 4 jobs lost elsewhere in the economy.
If that's not enough proof for you, now consider the fact that offshore wind has been estimated to cost 3x - 4x more than onshore wind.
If you want to chase people, businesses, and industries out of Pennsylvania by defacing the natural beauty
of the Great Lakes and "skyrocketing" your electricity rates, pursuing
the ‘green’ energy boondoggle of wind power is a sure means to that
end.
People need to educate themselves about these energy issues if we hope to maintain reliable, affordable power for all Americans. We need sound scientific, economic, and environmental energy policies based on facts, not fear.
A good place to start is by reading "The Wind Farm Scam," by Dr. John Etherington (http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Farm-Scam-Independent-Minds/dp/1905299834), and by visiting the science-based website, Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions at www.WiseEnergy.org/ .
People need to educate themselves about these energy issues if we hope to maintain reliable, affordable power for all Americans. We need sound scientific, economic, and environmental energy policies based on facts, not fear.
A good place to start is by reading "The Wind Farm Scam," by Dr. John Etherington (http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Farm-Scam-Independent-Minds/dp/1905299834), and by visiting the science-based website, Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions at www.WiseEnergy.org/ .
Mary Kay Barton
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