Looming Large

Wind energy is marketed as a clean alternative to powering homes and businesses, one that should cut greenhouse gas emissions, and, at the same time, slowly wean the nation away from its dependence on fossil fuels. It sounds like a miracle cure to global warming and foreign investment - all at the same time.

But that may not be the case.

Some say these predictions are not necessarily true, and that further research must be conducted to get a comprehensive picture of the true efficiency of harvesting the wind. Some say wind farms might not be as functional and reliable as we think. Some say there's actually nothing green about wind energy - except the gross profit.

Recent negotiations have hovered over a proposed construction of a wind farm in Enfield, currently under development by John Rancich, who has reported that his farm would generate enough electricity to power homes across the entire county.

"At 100 percent peak production, the wind farm will power all of the residences in Tompkins County," Rancich said. There is no guarantee, however, that homes within the county would receive wind energy from the Enfield Wind Farm.

"The wind farm will produce 50 megawatt-hours, but the electricity from these wind mills will not actually for sure go into every residence in the county. I'm saying they'll power the equivalent amount of energy, to give people and idea," he said, adding that his statement was a way of phrasing the situation in comprehensible terms, in a way that people would understand.

In fact, such language adjustments are not uncharacteristic of wind developers, lobbyists and politicians in pursuit of community support, as documented by Glen Schleede, a former associate director of energy and science for the White House Domestic Council.

And, according to New York scientists, it leaves many questions unanswered.

John Droz, a physicist from the Adirondacks, said Americans ought to think more critically before believing everything they're told.

"Marketers know that the average person won't do more than a superficial, trivial analysis of wind power," Droz said. "When they realize you're not going to think, they throw out words like 'clean' and 'green,' and to the average person, it sounds like a good idea. That's what has happened with wind power in New York State."

While wind is considered a "renewable" source of energy, benefiting the environment is not the real objective of this business. The primary goal is the potentially immense profit.

Financial windfall

Through a program called the Renewable Portfolio Standard, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority pays $14.75 for every megawatt of renewable energy capacity generated by a facility that harvests "clean" or "green" sources of energy, like wind. This is equal to approximately 1.5 cents (i.e. $0.015) per kilowatt.

"We procure contracts that basically pay these developers an average payment per megawatt of production," said Sal Graven, records access officer at NYSERDA.

The funds for this program ultimately come from ratepayers, however.

According to James Denn, a spokesman for the Public Service Commission, said the RPS was an initiative of the PSC that was developed several years ago. NYSERDA plays the role of administrator.

The main purpose of the RPS was to patronize and promote the development of all renewable resources in New York State, Denn said, including hydro, solar, and wind.

"In that initiative, it set forth a collection of a certain amount of money to be collected from all ratepayers, so all ratepayers have an assessment on their bill," Denn said. "That's money NYSERDA uses to provide credits to wind energy."

Each investor-owned public utility charges customers this additional and separate fee for renewable power usage, based on each individual household's consumption of electricity.

The RPS fee fluctuates depending on the size of a household's utility bill and is calculated at $0.00070 per kilowatt-hour of electricity used. This equates to 70 cents (i.e. $0.70) for every megawatt-hour.

NYSERDA euphemistically refers to this fee as a "systems benefit charge." New York State utility companies collect this surcharge via consumer electricity bills and transfer the capital to NYSERDA, which in turn hands the money to developers - of wind, for example - for generating renewable energy.

This tax thus supports the growth of wind commerce, basically turning ratepayers' money into a lucrative income for businessmen of the wind industry.

"This is the rate set forth in tariffs for each of the utilities," Denn said, adding that public hearings were held for more than a year prior to establishment of the RPS.

"You're being charged to develop renewable resources in New York State, including wind," Denn said. "All of us ratepayers are making an investment in the development of renewable energy supplies in New York State because that is the best way to ensure fuel diversity and to help safeguard the environment."

As of January 2009, there are 1,164 megawatts of renewable energy now under contract with the RPS program, Graven said. The PSC has a statutory role to approve wind farms at 80 megawatts or larger.

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