Comments - A VERY EXPENSIVE OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY FOLLY IN NEW ENGLAND - Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine2024-03-28T21:20:56Zhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=4401701%3ABlogPost%3A93718&xn_auth=noBI Wind Farm could be the new…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2017-08-30:4401701:Comment:1080952017-08-30T12:22:02.487ZFrank Haggertyhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/FrankHaggerty
<div class="asset-masthead"><h1 class="headline"><span>BI Wind Farm could be the new 38 Studios</span></h1>
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<li><span>By ZACHARIAH ALLEN</span></li>
<li>Jan 28, 2017…</li>
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<div class="asset-masthead"><h1 class="headline"><span>BI Wind Farm could be the new 38 Studios</span></h1>
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<li><span>By ZACHARIAH ALLEN</span></li>
<li style="list-style: none"> </li>
<li>Jan 28, 2017</li>
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<li class="hidden-print"><a href="http://www.ricentral.com/letters_to_the_editor/bi-wind-farm-could-be-the-new-studios/article_d66c5ea8-e4b1-11e6-bd38-574f3f15feb6.html#comments" class="cm" title="0 comments"> <span class="count">0</span></a></li>
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<div class="asset-content subscriber-premium"><p>As of December 12, 2016 Deepwater Wind, developers of the Block Island Wind Farm, announced that they had “flipped the switch” and the turbines were in commercial operation, producing “clean, affordable” electricity for the people of Block Island, Rhode Island and (presumably) New England.</p>
<p>Maybe it is time to review the bidding and assess the value of this project. The electricity rate payers of Rhode Island deserve an accounting.</p>
<p>To review, the main benefits of the wind farm, proclaimed for the project at the outset by its proponents, were:</p>
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<p>• Block Islanders, who pay some of the highest rates for electricity in the country, would see reductions in their electricity bills of up to 40 percent;</p>
<p>• While there would be five huge windmills placed less than 3 miles off the south shore of Block Island, they would be hardly noticeable;</p>
<p>• Since these would be the first offshore wind turbines in the US, Rhode Island could become the hub of a new industry, creating many high value jobs for the State;</p>
<p>• The wind farm would be a leader in the fight against global climate change, saving the planet and making Rhode Island “the Green State;”</p>
<p>• Block Islanders, long deprived of decent cable TV and internet services, would get access to world class cable TV and internet.</p>
<p>Politicians, federal, state and local, jumped on the bandwagon celebrating the arrival of “clean, affordable electricity.” If this all sounds reminiscent of the lead up to the 38 Studios debacle, it is. None of these benefits are materializing.</p>
<p>In fact, Block Islanders were told last year by John Bell, a rate expert, of the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities that they would see little, if any, reduction in the electricity rates. Space does not allow me to explain the complex structure of how Block Island rate payers will eventually be billed for electricity, but Mr. Bell was correct. There will be no significant cost savings for the electricity rate payers of Block Island as a result of this wind farm.</p>
<p>In fact, the windmills are hardly unobtrusive. Viewing the windmills from the south shore last Fall, I and many others looking at them from the lawn of the Southeast Lighthouse were stunned at how close they seemed, how they dominate the view. Some may argue that will attract tourists to the island. Some residents of the south shore, however, may feel that their pristine Atlantic seascape has been converted into an industrial landscape of considerably less aesthetic value and may ultimately reduce the value of their properties. While this may seem inconsequential to those who don’t own such real estate, a deterioration of real estate values could eventually reduce the tax revenues that New Shoreham relies on to fund its operations, consequentially raising tax rates for all.</p>
<p>In fact, Rhode Island is not the hub of a new, fast growing industry, nor is it likely to become one. The real expertise in erecting offshore platforms, which requires massive and expensive special equipment, is resident in the states that border the Gulf of Mexico and is likely to remain there.</p>
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<p>In fact, companies looking for a place to do business look closely at costs: what do they see? A state that cannot afford to maintain its roads has loaded another layer of unproductive expense onto those who live and work here. They will not flock here because of those windmills.</p>
<p>In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report explicitly warns that global climate change patterns are irreversible, even if carbon dioxide emissions are reduced to zero. That means that the wind turbines don’t help at all in the fruitless fight against climate change, but rather where the money needs to go is into mitigation of the negative effects of climate change. An example of mitigation is the state’s effort to shore up the bluff in East Matunuck. Not so glamorous, perhaps, but probably an harbinger of our future.</p>
<p>In fact, the residents of Block Island are struggling to get cable TV and internet out of the deal. While the fiber optic cable promised to be included in National Grid’s “Shore 2 Sea” cable has been included, it also seems that the costs of actually wiring Block Island to connect its homes to the internet, possibly as much as $10 million, is more than the major providers of cable services, such as Verizon or Cox, are willing to undertake for such a small market.</p>
<p>The only winners in this whole mess are the investors. No attention has been paid to why the investors might have thought this was a good deal. The answer is what I call “the prize money.” In short, when the development is completed and the wind turbines are brought on line, the investors are rewarded by the Federal Treasury with a check for an estimated $100 million. That is far more than they risked on the project, a handsome prize, indeed.</p>
<p>But, who is ultimately paying for this roughly $400 million project? Yes, you guessed it, the people of Rhode Island, and we didn’t even get to vote on it.</p>
<p>Yes, it does remind one of 38 Studios, doesn’t it. But, whereas the investors in 38 Studios may have lost everything they put into it, in this case the investors have hit the jackpot. Rhode Island has hit another pothole.</p>
<p>Zachariah Allen has worked since 1975 as a consultant and project development advisor in the energy industry. He presently lives in Perryville, returning to Rhode Island after many years of absence.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ricentral.com/letters_to_the_editor/bi-wind-farm-could-be-the-new-studios/article_d66c5ea8-e4b1-11e6-bd38-574f3f15feb6.html" target="_blank">http://www.ricentral.com/letters_to_the_editor/bi-wind-farm-could-be-the-new-studios/article_d66c5ea8-e4b1-11e6-bd38-574f3f15feb6.html</a></p>
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</div> Jan,
Thank you.
I have correc…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2017-08-30:4401701:Comment:1080942017-08-30T06:05:36.853ZWillem Posthttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/WillemPost942
<p>Jan,</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>I have corrected it, plus added other paragraphs. Please reread</p>
<p>Jan,</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>I have corrected it, plus added other paragraphs. Please reread</p> Towards the very end of this…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2017-08-21:4401701:Comment:1075232017-08-21T19:16:36.471Zjan van eckhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/janvaneck
<p>Towards the very end of this excellent analysis, there is the somewhat ambiguous comment on the proposed TDI transmission cable to be run underneath Lake Champlain: "<span>mostly supplied by French and Norwegian contractors." I believe that reference was intended to relate to the supply of wind propeller blades and generators, not to the DC power line itself. Perhaps Willem can clarify further. </span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span>The propeller blades would come in on special ships able to handle…</span></p>
<p>Towards the very end of this excellent analysis, there is the somewhat ambiguous comment on the proposed TDI transmission cable to be run underneath Lake Champlain: "<span>mostly supplied by French and Norwegian contractors." I believe that reference was intended to relate to the supply of wind propeller blades and generators, not to the DC power line itself. Perhaps Willem can clarify further. </span></p>
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<p><span>The propeller blades would come in on special ships able to handle a blade several hundred feet long, then transferred to special trucks with remote wheeled dollies at the back, then taken up the highway system with police escorts to the mountain ridge area, then carefully inched up the side of the mountain, for which a special roadway with a quite slight incline (likely less than a 4% grade) and most gradual radii turns would have to be blasted out of the rock, which in turn utterly destroys the mountain and ridge-line forever, for a maximum 25-year intermittent electricity output. A complete insanity, eagerly promoted by (an amoral) Wall Street. What do they care? It's the bucks that count for that crowd.</span></p> Jim,
The traditional media ar…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2017-02-27:4401701:Comment:935742017-02-27T19:06:59.042ZWillem Posthttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/WillemPost942
<p>Jim,</p>
<p>The traditional media are on the ropes due to the social media. They become more and more like tabloids to compete for attention.</p>
<p>Trump was elected, despite their efforts and their fake polls, and now he is lambasting them for spreading fake news.</p>
<p>Their agenda is to take him down.</p>
<p>We'll see how things develop.</p>
<p>Jim,</p>
<p>The traditional media are on the ropes due to the social media. They become more and more like tabloids to compete for attention.</p>
<p>Trump was elected, despite their efforts and their fake polls, and now he is lambasting them for spreading fake news.</p>
<p>Their agenda is to take him down.</p>
<p>We'll see how things develop.</p> I'm afraid our corrupt media,…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2017-02-27:4401701:Comment:936532017-02-27T17:34:45.259ZJim Lutzhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/JimLutz
<p>I'm afraid our corrupt media, supposed to be the "watchdog" our founders envisioned as "the Fourth Estate" has become the enemy of the Union as the President has proclaimed. Who would have ever imagined that they would end up this way. Unfortunately the education system we have allowed to be proffered to our children has indoctrinated them with "New World Order" propaganda and the belief that they should listen to the corrupt media pundits. There is no scientific method taught today, no…</p>
<p>I'm afraid our corrupt media, supposed to be the "watchdog" our founders envisioned as "the Fourth Estate" has become the enemy of the Union as the President has proclaimed. Who would have ever imagined that they would end up this way. Unfortunately the education system we have allowed to be proffered to our children has indoctrinated them with "New World Order" propaganda and the belief that they should listen to the corrupt media pundits. There is no scientific method taught today, no system to qualify facts and data, no accountability because the government controls what they feel we all need and we have no say. They have bought off the watchdogs and installed wolves that promote their NWO agenda and until we can get the education system set on a right course we are going to be saddled with several generations of functional idiots. Just watch some of the man in the street interviews on tv where simple history and government questions are met with blank stares, but they can answer who the Kardashians are. </p>
<p>I only hope it is not too late for our nation. We need a new quest for the future, a new direction. Our kids when I grew up were among the best educated in the world, and now they are also rans. </p> Hi Frank,
Thank you for all t…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2017-02-27:4401701:Comment:936512017-02-27T16:42:27.921ZWillem Posthttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/WillemPost942
<p>Hi Frank,</p>
<p>Thank you for all this info.</p>
<p>I sent my info to the NYT.</p>
<p>No response, because it does not fit its RE mantras.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Here is the DOE freelancing trying to get public comments before disbursing money, as required by law. I hope Trump puts a stop to it.…</p>
<p></p>
<p>Hi Frank,</p>
<p>Thank you for all this info.</p>
<p>I sent my info to the NYT.</p>
<p>No response, because it does not fit its RE mantras.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Here is the DOE freelancing trying to get public comments before disbursing money, as required by law. I hope Trump puts a stop to it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/time-sensitive-dept-of-energy-seeking-public-comment-on-maine-off" target="_blank">http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/time-sensitive-dept-of-energy-seeking-public-comment-on-maine-off</a></p> Taxpayers need to know what t…tag:www.windtaskforce.org,2017-02-27:4401701:Comment:934002017-02-27T15:58:15.607ZFrank Haggertyhttps://www.windtaskforce.org/profile/FrankHaggerty
<p>Taxpayers need to know what the news media is " NOT " reporting about the Block Island 5 turbine wind farm. This is a 300 million dollar project including the undersea ocean electric cables. </p>
<p>First there was an accident installing the base of the first turbine and had to be rebuilt. Later one of the five turbines had a drill bit left in the generator. Ocean wind turbine jack up barges had to be brought back to place a new motor. </p>
<p>The ocean electric cables need to be reburied as…</p>
<p>Taxpayers need to know what the news media is " NOT " reporting about the Block Island 5 turbine wind farm. This is a 300 million dollar project including the undersea ocean electric cables. </p>
<p>First there was an accident installing the base of the first turbine and had to be rebuilt. Later one of the five turbines had a drill bit left in the generator. Ocean wind turbine jack up barges had to be brought back to place a new motor. </p>
<p>The ocean electric cables need to be reburied as they were incorrectly placed. The electric cable from Block Island to Narragansett has to have the power taken off to rebury the cable.</p>
<p>Block Island which depended on diesel generators prior to the wind project had a fire at the electric plant last summer. In order to shut the power off the electric cable temporary power will be brought back to the island.</p>
<p>The news media says the project is complete ? This was a 300 million dollar demonstration project that has gone how much over the 300 million ? </p>
<p>The residents of Block Island were promised a drop in their electric rates - They were recently told they are not going to get the rate reductions </p>
<p>Finally the Block Island power plant has a lawsuit with the Town this will be ongoing for years </p>
<p>It appears that our President is correct the news media is the enemy of the public - why don't they report the truth ?</p>