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$2.1 billion for turbine would be gone with the wind
Credit: The Plain Dealer, cleveland.com 10 November 2010 ~~
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Translate: FROM English | TO English
There is always a lot of talk about cutting wasteful spending. But when it comes to identifying it, we seem to be at a loss for specifics. I read with great interest an Oct. 30 article detailing a $2.1 million project to install a wind turbine at the Berea Fairgrounds. This all sounds great until you do the math.
The generator is expected to save $50,000 per year, less $20,000 for yearly maintenance. You spend $2.1 million and get $30,000 a year back in savings. Not adjusting for the cost of money, that amounts to $300,000 in 10 years or $600,000 in 20 years. But you had to spend $2.1 million! In other words, you never get your money back.
Where does the $2.1 million come from? It’s a federal stimulus grant. That means that everyone pays for it. We don’t have the money, so we have to borrow it from some foreign country. That’s why the national debt is out of control. And that’s why the economy is in the dumps.
I love technology, and generating power from wind is right up there on my list, but it should be used when it makes economic sense. Don’t spend money you don’t have on a project that amounts to a bad investment.
John Papay, North Royalton
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