August 19, 2014
Indiana, Letters

Wind farms are only good for tax credits

Letter to the editor: Wind farms are only good for tax credits | The News-Sentinel | August 18, 2014 | www.news-sentinel.com

The plan commission public hearing held at Huntington North High School in May 14 had 30 citizens speak on their beliefs concerning industrial wind turbines, proposed for Plum Tree. The vast majority spoke in opposition to the ordinance.

Ordinance 2010-17 limits the setback of industrial wind turbines to a minimum of 1,000 feet from the turbine to a residence, 2,000 feet to any river. The permitted noise level is 60 decibels. I presented to the meeting a recent advisory by the World Health Organization that setbacks should be a minimum of 4,560 feet. The WHO advisory also reported measurable effects of noise on sleep begin at levels of about 30 decibels. Rob Propes, the local representative for ApexClean Energy (headquartered in Albermarle County, Va.) stated the actual Plum Tree setback to non-participating homes would be 1,200 feet. The 60 decibels allowed by the present ordinance are high frequency sounds. Wind turbines produce low frequency, which cause vibrations and are the culprit in the majority of health problems. He also was quoted as saying the Plum Tree project noise level will be far quieter.

If that is true, why hasn’t that solution been used in all parts of the world for the past 25 years? In the home county of Apex, the officials there, because IWT “had the potential to destroy natural resources,” forbade them. Move to Charlottesville, Va., where you can live in peace and tranquility without fear of an IWT being placed near you.

Warren Buffett has been the IWT golden boy for some time. He has placed hundreds of IWTs in Iowa. On Dec. 30 he ordered $1 billion worth of turbine engines to be stuffed into Iowa. The reason for the order on that date? The IWT federal tax credits expired Dec. 31. Sorry folks, there is no free electricity from these 500-foot monsters. It is shown that up to 90 percent of IWT costs are borne by taxpayers. The promoters and investors receive grants for construction, deductions for expenses, accelerated six-year tax writeoffs and production tax credits. They also are guaranteed the provisions of Section 1603 of the tax code, which pays them for reduced and no production.

Since the IWT run at only 22 percent efficiency, in 2013 New York paid out $570.5 million under this tax giveaway; $113.9 million were overpayments. They are making no effort to recover those funds. The tax credits are limited to 10 years. That’s why promoters now trade operating wind farms with another promoter and start the tax process all over again.

On May 5, Buffett made the following statement to an investors group in Omaha: “I will do anything that is basically covered by the law to reduce Berkshire’s tax rate. For example, on wind energy, we get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That’s the only reason to build them. They don’t make sense without the tax credit.”