Jumping in Pools Investigation: Wind Farms

Jumping in Pools is reporting on wind farms in the North Country. These particular wind farms are at or near Brainardsville, Chateauguay, and Ellenburg, NY.
Enjoy.

Windmills Would be an Asset for the County

Over the last couple of years there's been a lot of talk about the possibility of massive wind turbines being built in the area. Between Schoharie and Otsego Counties is one of the richest wind environments in the state. Talk about windmills in Cherry Valley has started again, and hopefully this time it will go through. Unfortunately, it was the urbane democrats of the area which killed the discussion before, despite the majority of the town board supporting the wind turbines, along with local republicans.

Which brings us to our area. Near Madison, NY, there are wind farms in Madison and Fenner. In Madison, there are seven wind turbines which generate electricity for thousands of homes. The operators of the turbines also pay for a quarter of the school budget and a significant portion of the town budget. In Fenner, twenty windmills are on local farms, taking up little space and providing even more power for civilian purposes.

In Tug Hill, 195 windmills provide about 2% of New York State's electricity needs, and pay a handsome amount annually to each of the local towns. These windmills are quiet, having been under one-- touching it in fact. This was while the turbine was turning rapidly.

Sure, the windmills are only effective 20% of the time. However, most of the time, they do not require personnel on site. 20% of the time is still impressive, considering that even with this limited capacity, they still provide relatively large amounts of clean energy. Every windmill that is constructed is one less megawatt of power generated from oil or coal. When the windmills are not in service, the rest of the grid is easily able to compensate for the lack of energy. Any excess energy can be fed back into the grid, causing other energy sources to cut back on production.

As a local official, I would welcome and encourage wind farms in the area. Last year I attended a meeting of the Town of Fulton board and threw my support behind Phil Scowfoe's plan for wind turbines. These turbines will be able to pay a large portion of our local taxes through PILOT programs and will also decrease our energy prices. In Cherry Valley, the company which was to run the windmills offered the residents 25% off of their electricity costs, in addition to paying through PILOT programs. The incentives for putting in the windmills will cut our government overhead costs, further benefiting taxpayers. With school costs rising, any windmill benefits would slow or temporarily halt the rise in school taxes.

My family has went out of our way to visit all three windfarms, with Madison being visited probably 10 times. The windmills would become a minor sightseeing site and would bring in a few onlookers a day. Ten people per day in the summer coming from Albany to gawk at the windmills could inject hundreds of dollars per day into our local economy, which alone would be a nice jolt.

Windmills are not perfect. However, they're the closest thing we have to perfect for now.

Richmondville and the Wind issue

Politics in Richmondville New York, is brutal, well put, simply said, why I would ever want to run for a trustee position in this town is comparable to suicide, but I believe I can make a difference, as for the biggest political issue in Richmondville history :
The wind turbine issue
I have the following to say :
I am against wind turbines in Richmondville for different reasons then most, I am not concerned with the effect it will have on the environment, I am in favor of drilling all around the country for the last drop of oil we can get, I am against it because it has never been a proven energy source, the problem with wind energy is :
When its not windy, the turbines shut off, currently there is no major storage system for the energy it could potentially produce, in some areas such as the open plains or the ocean this is a brilliant idea, but in Richmondville New York? Its suicide of wasting town funds on a un-proven energy source, as well as bringing about the entire town screaming at you every minute of the day.
I have made this proposal before in a Letter to the Editor in the Times Journal, Richmondville has enough creeks and streams, and they have been used before, to do hyrdo-electricity, it would make us even more Independent, and it would end this entire "wind debate".

Until next time,

Timothy Knight

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Albania to Host Europe's Biggest Windfarm

Yes, yes, we all know how awesome Albania is. However, we have another bulletin. Albania will host the largest windfarm in all of Europe. This windmilltastic farm will supply power for and will be constructed by Italy. The farm will consist of 250 turbines, over 50 more than at Tug Hill.

The Albanian government has transferred more than 97 hectares of land to Italy’s Moncada Energy Group, which through its Albanian subsidiary, Enpower Albania, aims to build a 500 megawatt wind farm, comprising 250 turbines, in the south of the country. The biggest wind farm in Europe. The project will include the construction of a transmission line running from the port of Vlora in Albania to the Italian port of Brindisi. A cable, stretching 145km under the Adriatic at a depth of over 900 metres, will allow electricity to be transmitted in either direction. Construction is expected to start in 2010.

Good for Albania. They're joining NATO and are still cool. How can they get any cooler?