A few weeks ago I wrote about Public Act 295, called the “Clean, Renewable, and Efficient Energy Act.” This deceptively named law requires all Michigan utilities to produce 10% of their energy from renewable energy sources by 2015. Of course, the “renewable energy” they’re talking about is the kind we don’t have. Its water, biomass, and wind. It specifically excludes coal, nuclear and oil, three things we can buy or build that generate lots of cheap electricity. The kind of reliable, cheap power that people look for when they’re going to build a plant that employs people.

We have all the little dams we’re going to get and few parts of Michigan have consistent winds to operate windmills. Biomass refers to burning wood chips, or turning switchgrass into alcohol fuel. It’s broader than that, but it’s one of those new, experimental means of producing a tiny amount of energy that are so beloved on campuses.

Of course the Wind Energy Resource Board, due to be formed in December, will be doing a report analyzing the “wind generation potential” of Michigan by region. They they’ll figure out how many miles of right of way will be needed to run transmission lines from the windmills to where the electricity will be used. The 11 member board will be made up of representatives from environmental groups, cities and villages, the Attorney Generals office, alternate energy suppliers, the renewal energy industry and “the public.” Oh, there will also be 2 people from the electric utility industry who might know something about electricity. What a circus! If you were going to design a board that was guaranteed to fail at what they were assigned to do you couldn’t pick a better combination than this.

For a wind farm producing one million megawatt-hours per year we’ll need about 30 square miles. That would provide power to 90,000 homes. Approximately Ann Arbor and Sterling Heights. Wouldn’t you love to hear what Lake Benton, Minnesota, the “windpower capital of the world” describes as the “swoosh, swoosh, swoosh” of their massive blades” as they “harvest the wind” right in the middle of Grosse Pointe? These towers are 257’ high [a football field is 300’ long] and the rotors cover 158.’ It would be raining Canadian geese and seagulls! It would surely ruin the garden party season.

Oh, and over in Huron County where they have a bunch of these things they don’t hear “swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.” They hear what they describe as a “jet airplane” that goes on day and night and makes the ground vibrate.

Anyway, you started paying a fee to all the utilities August 31st to implement this green pipedream. That’s to “implement” plans to produce that 10% renewable energy.

Anyway, I found out about this environmental boondoggle when the Alger-Delta Cooperative Electric Association sent me a card explaining the extra fee and why they had to charge it. Alger Delta Coop is in the UP.

This week I got a bulletin from Alger Delta explaining what the extra charge on my bill was actually buying. It was still a little confusing so I called them and they were glad to explain further. It seems that Alger Delta Coop is already meeting the 10% goal. In fact it gets 11% of its electricity from “renewable sources.” Well great! That saves Michigan from all that pollution and promotes those Green Jobs that Governor Granholm is always telling us are on the way. Except that Alger Delta doesn’t generate any electricity green or otherwise. It buys it wholesale from Wisconsin which has little power dams. They’re the ones generating the 10% renewable electricity. I’m paying an extra fee on my electric bill so that Wisconsin can sell clean, renewable energy. So if we’re not collecting money to comply with the 10% requirement, what’s being done with the money they’re raising? Well, they’re giving it to “low income, residential and commercial and industrial accounts” for “energy conservation programs.” In other words, buying insulation for party stores and backwoods welfare recipients.

After all of this double talk and greenspeak the “Clean, Renewable, and Efficient Energy Act” turns out to a tax on everybody that buys electricity and natural gas so that the utility can comply with a state requirement with which they already comply. And then they’ve got to spend the money somehow, so this being Michigan, they’re going to give it to “low income” people. Just like the rest of our taxes.

I wonder how many of you would ever know why your utility bills went up if you hadn’t read this? I wonder if our State Representatives and State Senator have ever heard of Public Act 295 and realize that it taxes their constituents for nothing? My guess is that they never read past the words “clean, renewable, efficient” before voting for it.

I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you ask your Representative or Senator about it? If nothing else, the answer should be entertaining. Oh, another thing. Ask them how they feel about a 30 square mile windmill farm and a few hundred miles of high tension power lines in their district. Maybe even near their house.