Windmills help with energy, but at what cost?

Over the last several months, extensive arrays of thousands of windmills have been placed throughout the landscape of northwestern Indiana. Once located quite a far distance away from the roads , these windmill fields are now prominently visible along several highways just north of Lafayette.

Along with the intense search for alternative sources for fuel currently being undertaken by several companies in the state, Indiana is beginning to do its part in being environmentally friendly and energy-conscious. Unfortunately, the rush to place windmills throughout the corn fields along Indiana highways is not as innocent as it might first appear.

The companies responsible for the windmills include BP Alternative Energy and Dominion Resources. They are swiftly placing windmills on Indiana's farmlands, offering property owners a contract that promises a $5000 check per windmill at the end of each year.

Once the contract is signed, however, the windmill is on the property for an indefinite amount of time. Even if the company should go defunct or move its operation elsewhere, the windmill may stay on the property as long as three decades. Several abandoned wind farms exist in other states, including California and Hawaii. It's a kind of sad image, isn't it?

Of course the energy companies in charge of erecting the windmill farms expect to make massive profits, and are seeking to expand their wind farms throughout Indiana. We're glad the companies have high hopes, but we all know things in this world don't always go according to plan.

Indeed, the property owners stand to make significant guaranteed profits as long as the windmills are functional. But if the energy companies are going to erect the windmills while also making massive profits, they should also be responsible for removing them should their operation move elsewhere.