Pricey power
Concord Monitor | March 31, 2014 | www.concordmonitor.com
A recently published paper by the American Wind Energy Association illustrates that electricity prices are rising more than four times the national average in nine of the 11 states with the most wind power consumption: Colorado up 14 percent, Idaho up 33 percent, Iowa up 17 percent, Kansas up 29 percent, Minnesota up 22 percent, North Dakota up 24 percent, Oklahoma down 1 percent, Oregon up 15 percent, South Dakota up 26 percent, Texas down 19 percent and Wyoming up 33 percent. (Texas was tied to energy deregulation.)
The reason electrical prices spiked in these states should come as no surprise, considering wind power and other forms of renewable power generation are much more costly than conventional power. It’s safe to say that wind developers will directly affect every electrical ratepayer in New Hampshire with higher costs.
That said, how much more will New Hampshire residents’ monthly electric bills increase for wind developers to make a good profit? And why is the renewable energy industry allowed to play fast and loose with it facts to deceive New Hampshire legislators? Even AWEA’s own analysis shows electricity prices skyrocketing in almost all states with substantial wind power generation. Do legislators care about documented rising costs destined for their residents?
New Hampshire has been an exporter of electricity for decades, and that money has done a lot of good for our state. Outsourcing our lands to southern states for electricity will hurt us in more ways than one. We will all feel it.
RAYMOND CUNNINGHAM
Bridgewater
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/04/01/pricey-power/