If wind power is so great, why do we need to have laws (Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards) forcing it on us? Mr. Fred Keller and Cascade Engineering are plenty rich without having the state pass laws making them even more so (“Winds of opportunity blowing in Lansing,” Press, March 2)! If utilities or investors want to risk their capital to produce this or other supposedly clean or renewable power, go ahead. But when mixed with taxpayer’s money and government mandates, these “green” solutions bring unintended bad consequences.
This thinking brought us ethanol; which has proven no cleaner and with no beneficial effect on fuel prices, but look what is happening to our grocery costs as corn prices double! The problem with forcing wind-generated electricity on customers (and tax payers to subsidize it) is that it’s almost twice as expensive as other power sources.
Until customers decide they’re OK with brownouts on calm days, wind turbines can’t replace any necessary generating capacity and can only act as a redundant and often unneeded power source to the grid. Jobs created to produce turbines? Michigan already has relatively expensive electrical power. What’s the job loss in Michigan as employers seek less expensive power elsewhere? In this competitive world, power costs are a big consideration!
When well-intentioned but economically ignorant politicians (Ms Granholm) set out to change the world, a few sharp operators get rich(er); the rest of us get blown away!
— MATT HOWELL/Grandville
24 March 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/03/24/renewables-and-the-market/