Confession of a former wind turbine supporter

Editor:

They say that confession is good for the soul, so here is my confession:

A few years ago I thought like so many other people in this country, in particular in this town of Orangeville, that wind must be good, after all it's free. I even went so far as to have a "green energy" sign on my lawn. Free works for me, but it didn't take a lot of research to discover that like the lunch, nothing is free!

I began to ask questions such as: Why does each industrial wind turbine contain 400-plus gallons of oil? Why are the employees of the industrial wind turbines told to not get within 1,300 feet of a working turbine? Why have the issues of wind sheer noise and blade flicker not been resolved? And the questions kept coming. So many unanswered questions and no real answers were coming from the industrial wind turbine people or my elected town board.

For instance, I discovered that if the wind isn't blowing or is blowing too strong, the turbines are shut down, hence, where is the reliability in this? I do not believe we could do a load of laundry or dishes, or even take a shower with this undependable energy source.

The current grid is ancient and when energy is sent into it, the grid is unable to handle the overload and the energy cannot be stored. Hence, all this free energy is now costing us the taxpayer money. I started to wonder exactly how many coal cars have been saved and how many barrels of oil have not been used by the use of the industrial wind turbines? And, my research revealed that the industrial wind turbines that we are seeing are actually antiques themselves. Since they were purchased by the wind company, new models which are more reliable and efficient are now available. But the wind company that wants to put up industrial wind turbines have already purchased these antiques and they want to pawn them off on us, the unsuspecting landowner.

Something else that I discovered while researching industrial wind turbines is that there is now an industrial wind turbine heart condition, which is caused by the adverse affects of having an industrial wind turbine near one's home.

Additionally, I learned that the industrial wind turbine investors are just that. They have no real interest in providing accessible wind energy to this country, New York State, or the town of Orangeville, instead they are more interested in the tax benefits that they will gain from New York State and the federal government. Plus, when they receive too much in tax credits they can actually sell the excess tax credits, as they are fully transferable. We then end up with non-resident owners who really don't care that the current machinery is antiquated and outdated before it is erected.

Needless to say, all this acquired knowledge left my head spinning so I went to the supervisor of one of the wind companies and was told that yes I too could be an investor if I had the amount of money needed to purchase an industrial wind turbine. Further, because of the tax benefits, the profitability of investing in an industrial wind turbine is very lucrative. Thus, I began to wonder how is it that the investors and the industrial wind turbine companies do not pay their fair share in taxes but instead are allowed to pay a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) which amount to several hundred thousand dollars for each town, but again, against the millions generated by tax benefits and credits received by the investors, this amount seems incredibly small and nearly insulting to the towns that accept this PILOT payment.

Now the town of Orangeville wants to put the industrial wind turbine within 700 feet of a property line, not the 1,300 feet recommended by the company.

The industrial wind turbine companies have done to Orangeville what they did in Sheldon, Bliss and all the other towns and counties where they have signed people up for leases or land variances. The industrial wind turbine companies have successfully split these towns and pitted neighbor against neighbor. There is a better way to do business, but the industrial wind turbine company has chosen to come into each town with no information about them and sign unsuspecting landowners up without giving the land owner any knowledge at all about the hazards of these turbines.

Now that you've read my confession I urge you to also look into these industrial monsters before you are swayed by a slick talker from out of town, into signing your property away. Know what your rights are, know what you are signing and know the end results.

Soon an election will take place in Orangeville which gives you, the voter, a genuine opportunity for change, real change. The opportunity to vote for folks who are not anti-industrial wind turbine and indeed support them in non-residential areas. Steve Moultrup, Mary Jo Hopkins and Darryl Dickinson each want what is best for Orangeville, not their own personal pocketbooks.

Here ends my confession. I feel relieved knowing that you, the reader, now have information that you can discern and are the wiser for having received it.

Linda Makson

Warsaw