Criterion MDPSC Public Hearing Comments-March 6, 2008

Criterion PSC Public Hearing Comments-March 6, 2008

How marvelous is the theme of Garrett County's Board of Education: "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives." James Madison's grand notion requires a leap of faith and a strong commitment to the better idea, for it's never certain knowledge will prevail. In this hurley-burley, attention-deficit world, sustained inquiry often falls victim to wishful thinking or the notion that one opinion is as good as any other, as if monsters still await over the edge of the world or George Washington had crossed the Rubicon in 1492. Or that industrial wind is an effective and meaningful producer of anything other than massive tax avoidance mechanisms.

In a world where knowledge governs ignorance, those behind Criterion's limited liability scheme would be prosecuted for consumer fraud, while the Public Service Commission, the administration of the Department of Natural Resources, and the Office of the People's Counsel would be implicated for enabling a bunco operation. This so-called energy project, with its 28-sky-scrapper sized turbines extending for miles atop the state's tallest ridgeline, might sporadically produce an annual average of only 18MW to a grid that generates up to 140,000MW. At peak demand times, the project would often produce nothing. Since it can't be depended upon to produce on demand, it cannot replace any reliable power plant, or prevent any new conventional power plants, including coal, from being built to satisfy increased demand. Given its volatility, it's not clear what fuels it could erratically replace, and how much increased thermal activity would occur on the grid in order to stabilize that volatility. Consequently, the project would not likely offset significant carbon emissions-if any. Even if Western Maryland were saturated with a dozen similar projects, no coal plants would close and the effect on greenhouse gasses would be miniscule.

What this particular outsized monster will do is create unlawful noise, devalue neighboring properties, create a multitude of nuisances, threaten many species of wildlife, some already very vulnerable, subvert the county Heritage Plan, ridicule protections afforded by scenic highways and the state Historic Trust, clearcut hundreds of acres, dynamiting much of this area, and produce little revenues and few permanent local jobs. These phenomena are well documented, as is the questionable financial portfolio of Criterion's Clipper connection and the miserable performance of the Liberty turbines proposed for this project. But all this will almost surely be ignored by the present PSC review.

How did we arrive at such a sordid state of affairs? How could so many people believe the inaccurate claims this oafish technology makes for itself-that more wind plants would mean less coal farms; that such projects would reduce reliance on foreign oil; or provide power for 70,000 homes; or make the air cleaner and improve public health? All this is gibberish, contrived nonsense. The press bears a portion of the blame as it regurgitates "he said, she said" bromides, often reproducing verbatim corporate wind propaganda as if it were truth-and not advertising. The People's Counsel, moreover, has participated in three prior PSC wind hearings and has done nothing to protect the interests of ratepayers throughout those hearings, not even asking basic questions. It was not clear anyone from that office knew anything about electricity, let alone had thought to ask about how those projects would affect people's lives.

Garrett County's Commissioners also share a large portion of blame by pimping our mountains for elusive, unsecured wind revenues. They have a business relationship with wind developers, leasing county land to them, putting at risk much of what citizens hold dear-and they do so ignorant not only of what this project would do to people and property but also of the incivility inherent in this scale of development.

As for the PSC, it has been a pass through for the goals of pandering politicians and wildcat wind operators hoping to make a quick buck on the public's dime. At PSC evidentiary hearings, wind developers could not substantiate a single one of their claims, yet the hearing examiners consistently refused to make them accountable. When asked what remedies existed for citizens who experienced unlawful noise and deleterious health effects, for wildlife mortality, for property devaluations, for taxes promised but not delivered, for income promised but not delivered, for energy promised and not delivered-the PSC response was deafening: there was no response. The PSC is a political organization, its commissioners appointed by the governor; it is funded by fees collected from the companies it regulates. And it shows.

We gather this evening for the purpose of dressing the PSC's window, so that its bureaucrats can say they upheld the law-a law dedicated to the pursuit of ignorance, made for a politically connected wind developer and a prominent wind lobbyist expressly to eliminate public inquiry and a systematic search for relevant information that could protect citizens, consumers, and the environment. Is it any wonder that people have become so cynical about their government-when its regulatory agencies hide behind a contemptible law to avoid doing their jobs, deceptively securing political ends while ignoring the public they are chartered to serve? We should speak plainly here: the PSC is engaged in a sham, a charade, where bullshit governs knowledge and snake oil usurps effective government. Don't persist on this course.

Jon Boone
Friends of Backbone Mountain
503 East Alder Street
Oakland, MD 2155