1:”the noise is being created not by the turbines themselves, but by cooling units inside the nacelle” – News-Tribune

According to Charlie Parnell, an Edison spokesman, “tests have shown that the noise levels fall within the requirements set forth by the West Virginia Public Service Commission.”

Then it seems logical, since this noise level is impacting the quality of life of neighbors, the PSC noise requirements need reassessed.

2:”Behind Iberdrola’s Portland layoffs: expiring wind power tax credits, declining demand, overloaded grid, cheap natural gas.” - REVE

Of course, the Portland Mayor has an easy solution … taxpayers have to cough up more money to make the wind folks wealthier.

3:A recent personal property tax ruling that will cost Michigan counties millions of dollars in revenue could prove vital for utility companies and energy manufacturers around the state. – Great Lakes Echo

Interesting approach since additional revenue and new jobs are the key selling points to county officials in the project approval stage.

4:General Electric CFO Keith Sherin blames energy sector profit drop on the wind. – Wind Power Monthly (h/t AFA)

If only taxpayers would kick in a little more toward wind subsidies. GE could make a larger profit on their wind division.  Then the government would get taxes from the GE profits.  Wait … what?  GE doesn’t pay taxes?

5:Spain’s government suspended subsidies for new renewable energy plants as part of the administration’s efforts to curb the budget deficit. - Bloomberg Business Week

It’s a darn good thing the US doesn’t have money problems:

1:Excellent commentary by Jon Boone – MasterResource

2:GE Courts Turbine Customers for Solar Before Wind ‘Crash’ – Business Week

aka: If you buy in the next 30 minutes, we throw in a set of beautiful steak knives!

3:Hmmm … definition of “renewable” now includes Bloom Energy’s natural-gas powered fuel cell generators. – Delaware Online

Also interesting that this project has changed hands twice … before start up.

4:In local news: Edison Mission Group has commenced commercial operations on the Pinnacle wind farm at NewPage located on Green Mountain in the US. – EBR

If by commenced you mean that at 10:51 am: #23 is turning; #22-21-20-19-18 not turning; #17-16 turning; #15-14-13-12 not turning; #11 turning, #10-9-8-7-6-5 not turning.  Couldn’t see the other 4 my current vantage point.  Superb!

Oh!  11:14 am … as I release this post, nothing changed.

5:Oh … and another local issue:  The Mineral County (WV) commissioners on Tuesday approved the signing of the decommissioning fund and escrow agreement for Pinnacle Wind Farm LLC. – Times-News

Unless the signed agreement includes a dramatically increased escrow amount, the County Commission has placed the residents of this fair county in financial jeopardy.  And don’t say the Commissioners were not warned.

1:This is post number 700 at the Allegheny Treasures blog, which started nearly 30 months ago.  I thought it might be fun to provide the link to the very first post, dated 9/28/2009 - Mountain Breezes – Green Energy’s New Coal?

Did we stay the course?

2:Massachusetts DEP Study Findings Whitewash Health Impacts – WindWise

These WindWise folks are really doing their homework  Visit their site to show your support.

3:Opinion: Gov. Chris Christie wisely vetoed allowing wind farms on preserved farmland – NJ.com

Here’s the best part: “But good intentions for solving one problem should not result in another type of harm.“

But, trashing the Appalachian Mountain range with thousands of these 747 size energy impostors is somehow perfectly acceptable?

Industrial wind doesn’t belong anywhere.

4:Oregon wind farm first to ask for permission to harm birds - Sustainable Business Oregon

The key word here is “first.”  The rest have just ignored the US Fish and Wildlife folks and, for the most part, the requirement placed on them by the Endangered Species Act.

5:Subsidies for Green Energy Do Not Help American Consumers – US News

Just ask the Vinalhaven and North Haven folks?

1:Killer Energy (Time to Apply Endangered Species, Wildlife Laws to Windpower?) – MasterResource

2:”Wind farms were paid £25million not to produce electricity when it is ‘too windy’ last year, figures revealed today.” – Daily Mail (UK)

3:”DOE looks at expanding research of small nuclear reactors” – The News Tribune

4:Siemens Exiting the Nuclear Energy Business to Focus on Renewables – Oil Price

Bet you a dollar they’re back in 5 years or less!

His letter is titled “You should know more about Roth Rock project” and the full text begins:

I read with interest the article in the Cumberland Times-News entitled, “By 2013, Western Md. could have more wind turbines” (Jan. 9, Page 1A), by Elaine Blaisdell.

It stated that, “The Roth Rock project on Backbone Mountain was started by Synergics, but is now owned by Gestamp Wind North America of Houston.”

That is true, but your readers should know that Gestamp Wind is a multinational company based in Spain.  Furthermore, the 20 Nordex Wind N90 turbines were made by another multinational company based in Germany.

These power plants are often built by smaller limited liability companies (LLC) that sell them to larger, sometimes foreign, corporations for their generous tax breaks.  Taxpayers and electric customers are forced to pick up the tab.

Another interesting tidbit of information is that 80 percent of Roth Rock’s power output is sold to Delmarva Power, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), while the remaining 20 percent will be sold under two PPAs with dependent state entities, the University System of Maryland and the Maryland Department of General Services. 

Wayne Rogers, the governor’s good friend, is president of Synergics. You can make what you want of this relationship and the governor’s support of wind energy.

What’s more, Frank Maisano, a wind salesman, described the Roth Rock project as well-done and said there has been minimum invasiveness to the land. 

Mr. Maisano was quoted as saying, “It’s certainly not obtrusive-looking.  Once people see the wind projects and get used to them, they will see there wasn’t anything to be afraid of.”  

Well, I would urge you not to rely upon Mr. Maisano for accurate information. These projects are quite destructive of the land, requiring clearing miles of ridgeline for roads, turbine pads, etc. 

Many acres of forestland that previously provided habitats for numerous wildlife species are often lost, and thousands of bats and birds are killed at these projects each year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says 60 acres are likely needed per installed megawatt, or approximately 3,000 acres for a 20, 2.5-MW turbine, wind power plant.

Erosion, disruption of water flow, and destruction of wild habitat and plant life would continue with the presence of access roads, powerlines, transformers, and the tower sites themselves.

For a more honest appraisal, talk to folks living near these projects to see if people are getting used to them, as Mr. Maisano says.

You may get used to living near a pig farm, sewage treatment facility, junk yard, or dump; but, most folks would not intentionally move to one.

Gregan Crawford, a Garrett County commissioner, says that the Backbone project is noisy and that he can hear the turbines at his house 3/4 mile away.  A major problem is that noise levels cannot be predicted before developing a site. 

Unfortunately, there are still no controls in place to regulate wind turbines in Garrett County; hopefully, this situation will change.  

J. Edward Gates

Frostburg, MD

Letter ends!

AT Note:  We strongly encourage you to follow Mr. Gates’ suggestion to “talk to folks living near these projects to see if people are getting used to them.”  Just a matter of a few miles (as the Bald Eagle flies) away from Maryland’s Roth Rock facility discussed in Mr. Gates’ letter, is the newly constructed Pinnacle wind project, situated along the Allegheny Front above Keyser, West Virginia.

Local news editors have recently published letters from concerned citizens living near the Pinnacle facility describing how it has so negatively impacted their quality of life.  These citizens have pleaded with local officials to come to their homes to witness the noise coming from the turbines to no avail.  The very same Mineral County WV officials who served as cheerleaders for the project now dismiss complaints brought to them by these citizens.  The once mighty politicos who strutted about the county using their influence to roll out the red carpet for US WindForce LLC now claim they are powerless to assist in any remedy to the quality of life issues faced by these folks who, as Mr. Gates suggested, did “not intentionally move” to be near the turbines.

I felt it appropriate to emphasize Mr. Gates commentary by posting a letter from one of the Pinnacle sufferers so readers can begin to understand the “crawling” menace that is industrial wind in the Allegheny Mountains.

Letter begins:

NOISE FROM WINDMILLS ON GREENMOUNTAIN PINNACLE WIND FARM

The noise from these windmills is so great that it is impossible to live near them. When the wind is from the east there is a constant loud whining that can be heard from inside your home and if it is from the west it sounds like a train running. The vibrations are so great from the windmills they rattle the windows in my and other neighbors home. The only time there is no noise is when they are shut down. The front picture window in my house frames 3 windmills perfectly. I can close the blinds to get away from seeing them, but I cannot get away from the noise. Anyone who would like to experience this high noise level is welcome to come into my driveway and listen to it. I know this noise is so great that it can never be eliminated.

Neighbors have told me that they have spoken to our county commissioners about this but they were told they could not do anything about this. I believe all of our county commissioners were for the wind farm. These windmills have ruined the lives of both my family and my neighbors. I want the public to know what these windmills will do to anyone’s life who lives close to them. I have never heard or read anywhere where the windmill advocates ever mentioned the noise level of the windmills.  Most of the time I can hear the windmills from in every room of my house.   I have called almost everyone associated with the windmills that I could find a phone number for, but they quit answering or calling me back.  I even called Maria Litos in California who works for I believe Edison Mission Energy and she said they would shut them down at night until they found a solution to stop the noise, but this never happened.  This constant drone from the windmills even makes your head hurt. Something has to be done about this noise because the people around here cannot live with this.

Another problem we have is with theTasker Road, which I live on, is the cap they put on our road. This was nothing but a layer of gravel over our original hard surfaced road. This made our road very dangerous as cars would slide almost like on ice. Most of the gravel has been thrown off of the road by the traffic within a few days. Even the resident on thePinnacle Roadtold me they were not happy with the repairing of their road. I can hear the windmills loud whining even as I write this letter.

Richard L Braithwaite

Keyser, WV

Letter ends!

Finally, I’d like to take you back to August of 2010 and another letter to the editor Mr. Gates allowed us to post at the time, “We must deal with ‘growth,’ or energy crisis will never end“

I’m not normally big on “told you so’s,” but in this case, I’ll make an exception.

Letter begins:

Proponents of wind are sold on the idea that wind power and other “renewables” will eventually power our economic engine to new heights of GDP, with benefits for all. We really do not have to change our life styles, as we will merely substitute renewables for non-renewables.

Throw in “green” jobs, payment of money to leasers, tax breaks and incentives for developers, taxes for local governments, etc., as well as constant PR propaganda, and you have a public generally convinced of the good behind this industry. Gas, coal, and nuclear are all lumped together as undesirable alternatives for producing electricity.

Furthermore, if you oppose wind because your health and happiness, as well as that of your loved ones, might be affected by nearby turbines, then you are labeled a NIMBY. If you complain of noise or light flicker affecting your health afterwards, then you are spreading falsehoods, are a hypochondriac, or are delusional.

The wind industry and their propagandists will tell you that there is no evidence of noise or light flicker affecting the health of anyone living near these machines, dismissing studies and complaints to the contrary.

Like a ticking clock, these devices could not possibly be keeping you awake at night! If they are correct, why are there no wind developers, politicians, or county commissioners living next to industrial wind turbines?

I have been told that a few residents on Backbone Mountain must suffer for the needs of the many who receive clean, renewable electricity, and what about all those “green” jobs!

In fact, I read that Constellation estimated that there would be two, full-time permanent jobs for their project on Backbone Mountain! According to County Administrator Pagenhardt, the county should get $1 million yearly in utility tax revenues, a whopping 1 percent of the county budget.

Proponents will also argue that even if wind replaces not a single coal-fired power plant, it does contribute something to the grid and helps with the increasing demand for electricity.

Little do they consider that if we try to maintain or increase our per capita consumption of energy, there will never be enough, as our population continues to grow exponentially drawing upon limited resources. Just a 1 percent growth rate means a doubling every 70 years!

Until we deal with the real issue of “growth,” we will never find a solution to the energy crisis, or any other crisis for that matter.

J. Edward Gates

Frostburg, Maryland

Letter ends!

1:”Spain’s 18,000 wind turbines may be killing 6 to 18 million birds and bats (1). The average per turbine comes down to 333 – 1,000 deaths annually, which is a far cry from the 2 – 4 birds claimed by the American wind industry, or the 400,000 birds a year estimated by the American Bird Conservancy for the whole United States, which has about twice as many turbines as Spain.” – Canada Free Press

2:Why wind is not the answer – RTCC

3:”India will discontinue a tax break for wind farms starting in April, the beginning of the financial year, potentially stalling growth in a $3 billion market dominated by turbine-supplier Suzlon Energy Ltd.” – Businessweek

4:”The company was awarded $3 million from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program, and has also received $20 million in funding from Google.” – TechCrunch

Seriously – Kites?

1:”Why not wait until the public has a full understanding of the (wind) map and its significance?” – Bakersfield.com

Why indeed?  Surprise: “Because, Oviatt said, those studies would take too long considering the looming tax credit expiration…“

A “worth your time” read by Lois Henry.

2:”Doug Duimering, project manager for Exelon Wind, said the group has not given up on Lenawee County, but because the contract with Consumers Energy states they would build wind turbines in 2012, the group is looking at other sites.” – The Daily Telegram

Yep!  Taxpayer handouts may well dry up at the end of 2012.  Gotta put the damned things somewhere … anywhere!

3:Massachusetts Citizen Group WindWise is having an impact! – South Coast Today

Their efforts have the local paper wondering:

“Why do two reports on ambient sound differ in their conclusions despite using the same data? Why did an Oct. 17 email sent by the president of Palmer Capital Corp. to Selectman Brian Bowcock’s secretary (obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by Windwise) discuss Executive Secretary Jeffrey Osuch’s efforts to “help with keeping a low profile on this project”? Why is the project moving with such alarming speed? Why are there apparent incongruities with the timing of the permit process? Why were other proposals not sought from other bidders as is required for most municipal projects? Why have people been turned away from advertised public meetings?“

Good for them!

4:”It has laudable intentions to help the planet by providing clean, renewable energy instead of the fossil-fuel-based energy provided by PG&E. But the devil is in the details, and CleanPowerSF does not have very clean hands.” – San Francisco Examiner

The article raises a question that should be asked repeatedly:  ”If this program were as wonderful as it has been touted, it should sell itself and people should be required to opt in.”

5:On the Nuclear Energy side:

China, South Korea Affirm Commitment to Nuclear at Energy Summit

and

Saudi Arabia, China sign nuclear cooperation deal

and

China PM: Nuclear is “safe reliable, mature tech”

and how are we doing in the US?

U.S. energy secretary: $600M nuclear research facility at MSU in question

Consider this:  ”(US Energy Secretary) Chu said in these tough economic times, the department has to make sure it can still afford such pricey projects.“

So our very own Secretary Chu can toss some $535 Million at Solyndra, a failed private company, but hesitates to invest the same amount into research?  It is time for Secretary Chu to go!

]]> http://alleghenytreasures.com/2012/01/16/breaking-wind-quick-hits-from-the-industry-for-january-16-2012/feed/ 0 morgan http://alleghenytreasures.com/2012/01/14/measuring-wind-energy-performance/ http://alleghenytreasures.com/2012/01/14/measuring-wind-energy-performance/#comments Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:56:45 +0000 morgan http://alleghenytreasures.com/?p=7313 Continue reading →]]> While the report below is focused on Virginia, the recommendations included should be followed by all regulatory agencies with the authority to grant a license to construct and operate a wind plant.  After all, who could argue with this request: verify that data and calculations concerning costs and benefits are credible and accurate.

Thanks to Rick Webb of VA Wind:

REALLY?

Wonder if these incompetents would invest in these companies if they were using their own money, instead of your tax dollars?