Bert Bowers February 3, 2010 Letter to Jefferson County Legislators

The Legislators of Jefferson County:

I am deeply disappointed that our legislators chose, on Tuesday, to effectively endorse the wind development scheme proposed by Upstate NY Power and the PILOT developed by the JCIDA. I have tried, both personally and through the Coalition to Preserve the Golden Crescent and the 1000 Islands, to make you aware of the facts that neither the PILOT or wind energy in general deserve our support. There has been no attempt to study the economic impact of this development on our area. There will be significant impacts on our economy from this decision aside from the PILOT payments. The Galloo project if allowed to go forward will have the following consequences:

1. It will increase the level of debt in our federal and state budgets by hundreds of millions of dollars - debt that we, the taxpayers, must ultimately repay.
2. Wind energy from Galloo will not replace any of our current sources of electrical generating power, but will dictate that the entire system will operate in a less efficient manner to accommodate winds variability which will increase overall fuel usage and emissions produced in the production of electricity.
3. The high cost of the wind generated power will increase our already high electrical rates.
4. It will enable a group of investors, who do not live here and who will sell the facility to others to operate, to profit very handsomely at the expense of local residents as well as all taxpayers and electrical rate payers. The investors get paid up front - Jefferson County will get its small payments over twenty years, if the wind lobby can keep the present subsidies in place.
5. The development will destroy one of the last remaining wild areas in Lake Ontario and will convert the island, always a refuge for migrating birds, into a death trap for migrating flocks.
6. The large whirring blades and flashing lights will substantially diminish the qualities of peace, quiet and star-filled skies that have made this area a haven for vacationers, tourists, as well as regular residents. This will reduce tourism, hurt local businesses and reduce property values.
7. The equipment to be used in the development, principally imported from outside the US, will be imported without even paying sales tax. You have forgone the sales tax income that could benefit our area on hundreds of millions of dollars of imported goods.

The local residents who urged you to vote for this PILOT were, disproportionately those who are effectively surrogates for the wind developers or those who expect to profit personally from wind energy. The union workers were paid to attend the hearings. You have been deceived and influenced by them and the rest of us will pay dearly for your failure to protect the majority of residents from such an obvious scam. Wind energy will not save us from global warming and this is a bad deal for most of our residents.

Sincerely,
Bert Bowers