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Opinion
| 11/21/2009 10:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Wind Farm Simply Symbolism
Green Mountain Power's plan to construct a wind farm along a ridge line in the town of Lowell will have little impact on Vermont's energy needs. Neither will it improve Vermont's climate or environment.
Instead the wind farm will be a monument to crowd pleasing notions of energy independence and freeing Vermont from the slavery of fossil fuel dependence.
With some of the cleanest air in the country and a nearly non-existent carbon footprint from Vermont Yankee, it's hard to understand just what role the wind farm will play in Vermont's energy plans other than that of expensive symbol of politically correct thinking.
Right now, Hydro Quebec and Vermont's major utilities are considering a renewed power contract. HQ, once described by a VELCO employee as "about as close as you can get to a perfect utility" is committed to a major investment in wind energy. The utility is not building 11 windmills on a single ridge; it's erecting thousands of windmills across Canada. HQ is also committing hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrading power transmission lines.
Meanwhile, 650 Vermonters produce the cleanest, least expensive power available at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon.
Federal and state regulators are prepared to relicense the plant for another 20 years while liberal legislators seek to close the plant for no good reason.
Efforts to shut down nuclear, rely less on Hydro Quebec and replace those power sources with projects like the Lowell wind farm will guarantee two things: Vermont power prices will increase, making the state less attractive to business, and Vermont will be forced to buy electricity generated by fossil fuel sources located out of the region.
GMP seeks to build an insignificant wind farm. They will be lauded for going green. The majority of Lowell voters will support the effort because GMP promises big money that will effectively cover their town's taxes. Lowell's neighbors won't see a dime of the money, but they'll get to see the wind farm.
They'll also join the rest of Vermont ratepayers in paying higher electric bills because the powers that be in Vermont want to distance themselves from the two best electricity sources we've got.
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