Wind farms, particularly in Herkimer County, have been a favorite target of mine. Although touted as "green," their "foot prints" often extend over thousands of acres, radically changing the landscape and, for most people living near by, diminishing both their quality of life and property values. Benefits regarding "global warming" are speculative if not incalculable. They could justify more long distance power lines, such as NYRI -- extending negative impacts all over the countryside. Consumers usually are charged more for such "green" power than conventional power, so it is not cheap. Companies seeking permits to construct such projects usually seek a "PILOT" or "payment in lieu of taxes" agreement -- which amounts to a taxpayer subsidy not given to other businesses -- to make their projects viable. And the power is simply not needed locally, because our so-called power 'surplus' is the basis for the NYRI proposal. In sum, certain businesses request our subsidy and acceptance of negative environmental impacts for the "greater good" -- of people living elsewhere, of 'the earth' -- but probably for their own enrichment.
So why is Mr. Brezinski's proposal worth looking at?
Several county officials met Thursday with Empire State Wind Energy President Keith Pitman to gain information about how much revenue can be made from wind projects, Brezinski said.If the local benefit is great enough, it may make the local impacts more tolerable. (A year ago I wondered if some of the other proposals were simply 'lo-ball' offers that preyed upon Herkimer County's economic desperation.)
Pitman told county officials he would be able to give the county 75 percent of the revenue if he did a large project for the county, said Herkimer County Administrator James Wallace. That’s 10 to 20 times as much money as other developers are offering, Wallace said.
Brezinski said he thinks the county should try to make it so that any projectIf the power is used locally, that reduces the need for lines and impacts to people not receiving a benefit. It also reduces transmission costs. This suggests that the cost of production and local distribution might be cheaper than if the County buys power from National Grid. IF cheap power can be created, it will be a business advantage.
it’s involved with developing will produce electricity to be used locally instead of sold to other areas. This could bring down electricity costs and attract businesses to the area, he said.
Also discussed was the possibility of a small wind project that would place a few turbines near Herkimer County Community College to help power the college and possibly other county facilities, Wallace said.Smaller projects mean smaller impacts mean fewer objections.
Not to get carried away, the County would be taking on both a significant investment and significant risk. Like other local government-run utilities, the expertise needed to be successful is likely to be lacking -- hence the need for some professional management. And the negative impacts will still have to be dealt with in a way that is fair to neighbors.
But it is worth looking into ... NOT for global warming . . . NOT for the 'greater good' ... but for the possibility of bringing benefits to the people who will be paying the costs and living with the consequences.
3 comments:
These idiots can't properly cite a jail that they knew they needed to build for the better part of a decade, but you want them to build and run a utility?
Good God...you certainly are insightful, eh Strike?
You raise a good point, Anonymous. . . . and doing nothing is often better than doing the wrong thing.
I admit, much like Anonymous, at first the idea of having Herkimer County operate their own power company was disconcerting. I take this stance mainly because I realize that an undertaking such as this would be better handled by the experts. Herkimer County Administrator James Wallace would do well to convince his colleagues in the Legislature and the general public that a professional municipal energy management company will be in their best interest in terms of insuring the success of the project. The private professional energy management team’s expertise would circumvent any costly sophomoric start-up mistakes as well as neuter any disruptive political intervention that often serves to undermine and wipe out this type of venture.
There are other dangers that may impede this project’s probability of success. The public may view the unsightliness of these windmill units as aesthetically objectionable in contrast to the untainted Herkimer Country landscape. To combat this public rejection factor, I am offering an exception to Strike’s proposal. I propose to have Herkimer County share the project’s profits with the property owners. Rather than utilizing windmill generated power to offset the costs of public facility’s energy usage, the Herkimer County would rebate this new energy generated revenue back to the County taxpayers. This could be accomplished by selling the generated power back to the grid, then having these funds take the form of rebate checks payable to the Herkimer County taxpayers. The checks would be issued on the first day of December of each year. This would serve as extra dollars for the residents to have to spend for the holiday season. This would not only cultivate good will in terms of fostering public acceptance of the windmills themselves, but it would also serve as an economic boost to the local economy.
Another undermining dynamic is the fact that this area has been bestowed with an abundance of hydro generated power. This plays into NYRI’s proponents hands in terms of them wanting to ship our excess power to the downstate energy guzzling municipalities. Herkimer County could do little to combat this obstacle except to keep up their active opposition to NYRI’s trampling of upstate communities. Only campaign finance reform would neutralize this factor. Campaign finance reform would limit the power companies from hedging their business position via their excessive elective office campaign contributions.
This is indeed an undertaking worth attempting as long as the Herkimer County taxpayers reap the total extent of all the windmill profits after expenses.
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