READ AND ACT PLEASE AND HELP STOP SECTION 1603 THIRTY PERCENT GRANTS:
monique
Rep. Michael Michaud
Rep. Chellie Pingree
US House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representatives Michaud and Pingree,
As residents of Maine we urge you to vote NO on any further extensions of Section 1603 grants due to expire this year.
While the goal of Section 1603 is to increase the use of renewable energy, including utility-scale wind, the high costs and limitations of this program cannot be ignored.
High Cost: Eighty-percent of the $9.8 billion in Section 1603 cash grants went to wind energy developers. This represents a more than 10-fold increase in federal subsidies to the industry over what it received prior to the program's adoption. As an open-ended subsidy there are insufficient safeguards for taxpayers. Since the grants are not made public until projects are placed in service, taxpayers will not know the true cost of 1603 until 2013 or later. Total outlays for wind alone could reach nearly $20 billion with no extension.
Exaggerated Job Claims: It takes only 0.1 jobs per megawatt to operate a wind facility. Of the 12.3 gigawatts installed with 1603 funds, only about 1200 permanent jobs were created. Most of the 75,000 jobs claimed by the industry are temporary construction positions. Many of the manufacturing plants/jobs cited by wind industry proponents build components for industrial uses and are not wind-specific.
No production accountability: The Treasury assumes that 1603-funded wind projects operate with a 30% capacity factor (that is, produce 30% of the projects’ potential production levels) but many projects do not meet this assumption. Five wind facilities in New York, for example, received $300 million in grants and operated 25% BELOW this level in 2010. Section 1603 imposes no performance criteria, and imposes no penalty for projects that under-perform or do not meet developers' claims. This lack of accountability shifts performance risks to taxpayers.
Inflated Turbine Pricing: Upfront cash grants provide minimal incentive to negotiate lower prices with suppliers. In fact, the higher the capital costs the greater the 1603 grants. With turbines representing 55+% of project costs, manufacturers are encouraged to keep prices high.
There are cheaper, more effective opportunities for achieving clean energy goals that will also help the economy. Direct cash outlays go in the wrong direction by rewarding higher construction costs, higher energy pricing, and marginal to poor performance. It's time for Section 1603 grants to expire.
Respectfully,
cc:
Views: 107
Comment
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/
Not yet a member?
Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?
We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
-- Mahatma Gandhi
"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi
Task Force membership is free. Please sign up today!
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/
© 2024 Created by Webmaster.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine to add comments!
Join Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine