News
A Primer on Wind Energy
As consumers, we pay the full market price for wind-generated electricity plus the value of renewable energy credits mandated by the Legislature. As federal taxpayers, we donate another two cents per kWh, and support the fast depreciation (tax savings) allowed wind installation entrepreneurs. Mars Hill’s units produce 1 percent of Maine’s electricity and 0.01 percent of New England’s. The Kibby Mountain proposal of 44 three-MW units is projected to produce about .37 billion kWh per year. The number of kilowatt-hours supplied by the wind is very small. The combined output from Mars Hill and Kibby Mountain would be about 5 percent of Maine’s or .5 percent of the total New England grid.
The real cost of wind energy, if broken out on our electric bill, would be a shock.
November 8, 2007
by Richard C. Hill
in The Ellsworth American
The wind power proposal for Kibby Mountain and the existing facility at Mars Hill indicate that entrepreneurs are interested in the Maine wind resource. Much is made of the success achieved by Denmark.
Denmark’s flat topography and location between the North and Baltic Seas provide an excellent wind resource. The Danish population is less than 2 percent of that of the United States, but Denmark’s population density (the number of people per square mile) is four times greater. The greater the population density, the easier it is to the supply that population with energy. Denmark can rely on strong energy exchange... [continue via Web link]
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