Reality versus Illusion

"Reality versus Illusion"

There comes a point in time when reality sets in. The winter  seems  longer, the back a bit stiffer, the fingers   a bit less nimble perhaps  and the daily costs of living spiral higher.

Those realities hit me last year, and I decided to act. My beloved wife and I became full time residents of the great State of Florida ,after working  almost  40 years in our professions in our adopted  and  beloved   State of Maine .

Change does and must occur of course , as we all know. But, we hope the change is for the better. Now back to our off-grid solar  equipped camp in  Lincoln, Maine, I sometimes look at the Rollins wind  turbine complex a few miles away ( though I prefer not to). There are scientific realities to these unnatural things being placed all over Maine that are neglected and kept out of the public eye . Do they work when needed to meet grid demand?  Would they ever be built without subsidies and mandates?  Will they increase your electricity costs? Will there be more transmission lines  all over the state for their use, and who pays for that as well? How is the environment really impacted by blasting away and permanently ruining our scenic uplands?

 Many answers do exist to these questions though. One source is the  the University of Maine Turbine project initiated at Presque Isle in 2009. The UMPI  Turbine was touted to represent  the coming of a  new era in Maine. The “Saudi Arabia of Wind” was in our grasp, as the  now US Senator Angus King stated  years ago while  touting his wind project  at Roxbury ,as he peddled the illusion of benefits of  wind  power in Maine.

We have the facts though , and many exist  in the UMPI wind data base  as well as the OEIS Report (Governor's Office of Independence and Security Report of 2011 ).   Does anyone else believe that the documented capacity factor of the UMPI turbine of less than 12% represent a failure?  Is ruining miles of Maine’s natural and scenic resources for a 25% capacity factor at Maine’s existing wind power sites (3 year average) for electricity we don’t need really worth it? But data is ignored and the wind power industry is never scrutinized.   Before any more of the beautiful state of Maine is despoiled in my opinion by  more poorly performing and costly  wind turbine complexes, I urge the PUC, the Legislature’s Energy Committee, and all scientific and engineering departments in Maine to closely analyze and  readily make the data available and implement the OEIS report.  Maine’s Vacationland brand  is at stake, and that perceived illusion is becoming more real for many who visit Maine. Before  the   real  costs of the “green illusion “ become  reality to most Mainers ,I  urge in depth scientific and economic analysis by independent sources  and by the  Maine State legislature as to the realities of industrial wind sites and the true costs to Maine.

Dr.  Gary Steinberg

I am a licensed dental practitioner in Maine state, I hold  BA’s a  in Biology and Chemistry, with an electrical engineering background. I presently reside in Palm Coast , Florida, with a camp in Lincoln Maine.