Wind and more wind 

January 21, 2015, I voted no on the Meredien (Relight) Wind Farm project and did not meet with Mr. Woo and Mr. Baykam while they were in Logan County.

Why a no vote and why no meeting?

I perceive Relight’s purpose in being here as maneuvering to reap big profits at the hands of our federal government through wind farm subsidies and tax credits and our state government through sales tax abatements and reduced assessed valuations for property taxes. I do not see it as a visit to show their love and interest in a rural community in the heartland of our country. It is the money! If it weren’t for the fact that they can sell their electricity at less than cost and still make $$millions because of our governments’ stupidity, they would have no interest here, at all.

I did not wish to convey to these gentlemen that they had a prayer in getting me to change my vote to support the Meredien Wind Farm. From what I have learned through this ordeal, I wonder if I can ever support a wind farm project, again.

I believe that time and persistent efforts will prove that there are detrimental health effects from wind turbines to some people. I also believe that there is a possibility that some animals and marine life will be shown to be effected. I do not wish to become liable for that with a yes vote. Time will also prove that “Green Energy” is a movement by Socialists to control our energy use as they have our healthcare and as they want to control everything we do and use. “Global Warming” was the first idea they sold to the world’s public. If people will listen, read, and think, they will know that it is a hoax. Just for fun, check out temperatures and CO2 records during the 1930’s compared to now. Carbon emissions, carbon foot print, and carbon taxes, a result of the global warming myth, have become another means of suppression by socialist governments. Ergo, Wind Energy!

Wind farm proponents tout “no pollution.” Do some research. You might find that is not the case. Furthermore, God forbid that a tornado comes through forcing us to see how far the pieces fly. Wait until a defunct company which has been allowed a “letter of credit” as security for decommissioning and reclamation abandons a project. What about liens on farmland that exist because wind farm companies didn’t pay their materials bill during construction? This is happening in Illinois right now.

What happens when stationary power plants have to compete with “Green Energy” being sold at market prices? Springfield’s CWLP is asking for rate increases because they are mandated to buy a portion of the electricity they sell from renewable sources instead of producing it themselves with coal. Nuclear, coal, and oil plants are our stable energy producers where we get over 90% of the energy we use. Will they get the subsidies which would ultimately cost $billions in taxes, or will they close? I’m not talking about the distant future. Nuclear energy is asking for bail-outs, now because of competing with $23 per mwh from our taxes going to wind farms, and then, having to buy electricity from them and cut their power output which reduces their efficiency. Please read an article by Christopher Helman in Forbes Magazine published 12/21/12 and learn a little more about the real cost of Wind Turbines.

If that weren’t enough, I did a little research and calculating. The Railsplitter Farm has an energy-to-area density of 109 acres per megawatt. Sugar Creek 1 would have 94 acres per megawatt. The average across the board is about 85 acres. Meredien (South Logan) would have 33 acres per megawatt. That’s not even half of General Electric’s own standards for 1.5 mw generators, let alone 2.85 mw generators. Ratios of 35 acres down to 20 acres per megawatt are reserved for “straight line” farms in deserts and off shore farms, not for prime farmland in heavily populated areas. Three engineers from E D P (owners of the Railsplitter wind farm) told me, “It’s all in the company that builds it and runs it. You had better know that you have a good company.” Do we?

I am relating just a few highlights in this letter of what I have recently learned. There is much more. Common sense tells me Relight, who has never built a farm in the U. S., has little interest in us and our well-being. Rather, they have a keen interest in profits to be generated from our government policies. Their energy production is secondary, in my view.

Yes, it is hard to pass on what looks like a windfall of tax money to Logan County. My big question is, however, what will it cost us to get it? I know for sure it will cost us the good-will of hundreds of Logan County residents who have well-founded objections to the project.

Oh, one last thought. I was not named by Chairman Hepler in Dan Tackett’s article of February 7, along with three other board members who voted No on the Wind Farm. That was because about four years ago I voted NO on the Economic Development Master Plan. I considered it the “Master Scam” at that time, and still do.