The benefits they talk about for the county are short lived. The jobs they create...local ones are few and far between. They can't afford to train someone and than the company will move on in 2 years. The local motels, restaurants and gas stations and stores will receive an influx of business. The schools will receive funding from the wind turbines. However once they have been built the people start to leave as they can no longer live around them. Where are the schools in Toronto, Ivanhoe and Hendricks? What did it do to help their main street businesses? How many new businesses are there and how many have left? If it is so great for the community this tells the real story. How many rural acreages are up for sale in Deuel County? Quite a few because of the wind turbines coming to their area. This will only increase once they are living among them.
The colossal turbines which capture the breeze and transform it into electricity will not turn forever. Like all mechanical things devised by man, no matter how clever, they eventually wear out.
Companies, many global, are being drawn to this industry by its Wild West power-generation atmosphere with lax regulatory agencies, lax permitting and lax laws.
“It’s like prospecting: You can basically go stake your claim and build your project,” Sweetwater attorney Rod Wetsel, who co-wrote the book “Wind Law,” told MIT Technology Review.
And then, of course, there are the federal subsidies which make wind energy financially possible.
Wind energy production tripled during the Obama administration’s aggressive green energy agenda, going from 8,883 megawatts in 2005 to around 82,183 megawatts in 2017, which was about 5.5 percent of the nation’s total power generation.
The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the total cost to taxpayers of the wind production tax credit between 2016 and 2020 will be $23.7 billion.
One big question is how much money is being set aside for the inevitable decommissioning costs associated with removing aging, unprofitable and just plain worn out wind turbines.
"We’re coming in on 10 years of life and we’re seeing blades need to be replaced, cells need to be replaced, so it’s unlikely they’re going to get 20 years out of these turbines,” said Lisa Linowes, executive director of WindAction Group, a nonprofit which studies landowner rights and the impact of the wind energy industry.
Estimates put the tear-down cost of a single modern wind turbine, which can rise from 250 to 500 feet above the ground, at $200,000.
With more than 50,000 wind turbines spinning in the United States, decommissioning costs are estimated at around $10 billion.
As far as I can determine, there are no decommissioning plans anywhere in the U.S. Who will the cost of this fall upon? The farmer? The taxpayers? Personally, I think it unlikely that the wind company will pay this bill. As the turbines age, the wind farms are sold off to foreign companies so, good luck USA in obtaining any financial responsibility here.
Susan Norgaard about 6 years ago
The benefits they talk about for the county are short lived. The jobs they create...local ones are few and far between. They can't afford to train someone and than the company will move on in 2 years. The local motels, restaurants and gas stations and stores will receive an influx of business. The schools will receive funding from the wind turbines. However once they have been built the people start to leave as they can no longer live around them. Where are the schools in Toronto, Ivanhoe and Hendricks? What did it do to help their main street businesses? How many new businesses are there and how many have left? If it is so great for the community this tells the real story. How many rural acreages are up for sale in Deuel County? Quite a few because of the wind turbines coming to their area. This will only increase once they are living among them.
Clayton Holt about 6 years ago
Who is going to pay for the loss of property value around Lake Cochrane if these wind turbines are built?
Jill Entenman about 6 years ago
The colossal turbines which capture the breeze and transform it into electricity will not turn forever. Like all mechanical things devised by man, no matter how clever, they eventually wear out.
Companies, many global, are being drawn to this industry by its Wild West power-generation atmosphere with lax regulatory agencies, lax permitting and lax laws. “It’s like prospecting: You can basically go stake your claim and build your project,” Sweetwater attorney Rod Wetsel, who co-wrote the book “Wind Law,” told MIT Technology Review.
And then, of course, there are the federal subsidies which make wind energy financially possible.
Wind energy production tripled during the Obama administration’s aggressive green energy agenda, going from 8,883 megawatts in 2005 to around 82,183 megawatts in 2017, which was about 5.5 percent of the nation’s total power generation.
The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the total cost to taxpayers of the wind production tax credit between 2016 and 2020 will be $23.7 billion.
One big question is how much money is being set aside for the inevitable decommissioning costs associated with removing aging, unprofitable and just plain worn out wind turbines. "We’re coming in on 10 years of life and we’re seeing blades need to be replaced, cells need to be replaced, so it’s unlikely they’re going to get 20 years out of these turbines,” said Lisa Linowes, executive director of WindAction Group, a nonprofit which studies landowner rights and the impact of the wind energy industry.
Estimates put the tear-down cost of a single modern wind turbine, which can rise from 250 to 500 feet above the ground, at $200,000.
With more than 50,000 wind turbines spinning in the United States, decommissioning costs are estimated at around $10 billion.
As far as I can determine, there are no decommissioning plans anywhere in the U.S. Who will the cost of this fall upon? The farmer? The taxpayers? Personally, I think it unlikely that the wind company will pay this bill. As the turbines age, the wind farms are sold off to foreign companies so, good luck USA in obtaining any financial responsibility here.