Wind turbines generate fat wallets for companies

The pollution of wind farms across our beautiful state has now become a serious issue. The nonsense that it is green energy, saves fossil fuel and reduces pollution has been disputed by many experts in the field.

There is no evidence that industrial wind power is likely to have a significant impact on carbon emissions. Denmark, the world's most wind-intensive nation with more than 6,000 turbines, has yet to close a single fossil-fuel plant. In fact, it requires 50 percent more coal-generated electricity to cover wind power's unpredictability, and pollution and carbon dioxide emissions have risen by 36 percent. Horizon Wind is claiming the proposed Antelope Ridge Wind Farm will generate enough electricity to power 90,000 homes, which is a distortion of the facts. The 90,000 homes could only be provided power if the wind blew a 100 percent of the time at a speed of maximum power production. Production records prove that electricity production occurs only 10-21 percent of the time.

The current company, Horizon Wind owned by EDP Renovaveis from Portugal, recently recorded a net profit of $151 million and was just provided a very large wind farm grant from the U.S. government for the wind farm at Arlington. The other company, Iberdrola Renewables from Spain, also received a similar grant at the same time for their wind farm at Arlington. Between the two, they received $140 million of taxpayer dollars.

In addition to the grants, these foreign-owned wind farm developers receive huge tax credits and accelerated depreciation. In Union County a new wind farm has a real market value of $207 million, but is assessed at only $23 million and taxed at 9.3 percent due to a tax incentive program established by our legislators that somehow wind farms got slipped into. We citizens are paying dearly through taxes for an inefficient electric power system while at the same time fattening the pockets of offshore companies.

The Wall Street Journal warns that "wind generation is the prime example of what can go wrong when the government decides to pick winners."

Stop wind power.

Dennis Wilkinson
Cove