Opinions
Wind industry blowing away our tax dollars
Investment bankers are all aflutter with the onset of stimulus money for renewable energy projects according to the August 31 Wall Street Journal. After a long lag, numerous firms have again invested upwards of $100 million in wind farms. Investors are attracted by the quick returns made possible by the hefty federal grants and tax benefits.
The growing subsidies for wind power mask wind's high cost and inherent limitations, but only for so long. ...Although appealing to many, wind power is an extremely expensive, inefficient, and unreliable source of electricity, incapable of providing base load power. Wind's intermittency, variability, line loss, necessary back-up generation, transmission needs, and dispatch complexity limit the amount of electricity wind can secure.
October 6, 2009
by Kathleen Hartnett White
in Weatherford Democrat
Your tax dollars from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) have begun to flow freely to "renewable energy facilities" in Texas. The stimulus bill tagged at least $110 billion for "clean" energy projects.
The Penescal Wind Farm in Sarita, TX (near Corpus Christi) recently received a $114 million stimulus grant. Penescal Developers will use the money to double the size of the facility. Under the program in Section 1602 of ARRA, the federal government will rebate 30 percent of the construction cost. The subsidy also includes accelerated depreciation to reduce taxes.
Wind farms already are heavily subsidized, without which... [continue via Web link]
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