Sun Journal - The Economics of Wind: What's behind the interest, and what's it mean for jobs

The Sun Journal is running a two part series called "The Economics of Wind". Part 1 runs today, Part 2 tomorrow.

You can find it at

Some observations I made while reading it:
Truly massive subsidies are given to wind for electricity -- See Table ES5 at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/subsidy2/pdf/execsum.pdf
- There is a glut of natural gas that will likely keep prices low and the state of Maine seems to be conveniently ignoring this
- There is an 800 lb gorilla called inexpensive Canadian hydro that the Baldacci administration seems to be thwarting in favor of its friends in industrial wind
- The article states that Wind hasn't had an easy time out of the gate here, yet what about the expedited law? How much easier could it get?
- Estimates of full time wind farm employees are inflated
- Our schools are setting up a lot of kids for disappointment by training far more than there are jobs in wind power
- The number of companies that benefit is very inflated/misleading. If a wind company buys a box of paper clips or a rivet, they count the company as benefitting
- There are European studies about the high cost of green jobs, e.g.:
- The massive cost of the transmission infrastructure required by wind, e.g., the $1.6 billion CMP upgrade request will combine with wind's already high electric cost to make rates increase, driving business away. We hear about hundreds of jobs (99% which vanish after construction) but we don't hear anything from the state about the jobs we will lose because of higher electric rates.

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Comment by alice mckay barnett on April 11, 2010 at 8:49am
- The article states that Wind hasn't had an easy time out of the gate here,

i think ms skelton meant that you; the people helping to lead moratoriums, are causing a problem for the big wind project.

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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