Taxpayers are now taking the brunt of the City of Saco's decision to "go green," as one of the city's wind turbines stands idle in wait of repairs.

The large turbine prominently displayed at the transportation center, near the bridge between Biddeford and Saco, found its location due to politics, not science - a situation that always leads to negative results.

In January 2007, the city installed its first wind turbine, a residential-sized model, at the wastewater treatment plant. The 33-foot Skystream was said to be the beginning of the city's "experimental phase" with wind power.

According to past reports, the city eschewed a wind study for the wastewater treatment windmill because of the expense, listed in 2008 as $40,000. The windmill itself was supposed to provide the city with an estimate of the wind on site and it was said at the time that it could be moved to test wind in... [continue via Web link]