Where’s the payback for wind energy?
www.pjstar.com 19 November 2011
Re. Nov. 17 photo story, “Students find turbine installation mesmerizing”:
I am sure the students did find the installation mesmerizing in their young minds. I also find it mesmerizing in my old mind for quite the opposite reason.
We know the current administration is pushing green energy via our tax dollars instead of through the competitive marketplace. This is testified to by the statement in the article: “Most of the $614,000 cost of the project is being paid for with a federal grant through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.” Translation: Our tax dollars are footing the bill. One now wonders how many of these projects are being funded countrywide. If a project like this is deemed to be so beneficial, should not the local school district bear the cost instead of all taxpayers via federal government largesse?
The article also states: “When complete, the school hopes to be 75 percent to 100 percent energy independent.” The most important word in that statement is “hopes.” Only time can give that answer. One hundred percent independence is highly unlikely. There also will be some ongoing maintenance costs associated with the turbine.
The bottom line is: What is the payback time to the taxpayers for this and all of the other green energy projects our tax dollars are funding? I’d like to see a follow-up to this article some years hence detailing what payback, if any, has been realized. It’s worth noting that T. Boone Pickens has abandoned his billion-dollar wind turbine project.
Bill Osborn
Mackinaw
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/11/19/wheres-the-payback-for-wind-energy/