Kennedy Drops Opposition to Nantucket Wind Farm

New England Cable Network (NECN) | 5/26/06

[bwteim]

Your picture says it better than my #15 !

Thanks.

[SunkenCiv]

The last mean-spirited attempt by the heirs to the bootlegging fortune to block the construction involved ship traffic, perhaps that's the Coast Guard connection; before that, it was seagulls might get killed -- if the seagulls die as a result of being a passenger in Ted's car, now that would be different...

[HereInTheHeartland]

And in other news, Ted Kennedy has announced that the entire Coast Guard budget is up for review.
Kennedy said, "Some have said that the Coast Guard is not needed anymore. I don't personally believe this, but out of respect to those of other beliefs, we will at least take a look"

[bwteim]

Thanks for the reminder regarding on-demand...

Forgot to add to DTogo, most large wind farms need a peaking plant (gas or oil) for continual power.

[bpjam]

Bet your life that he already has paid off somebody else to kill this thing so that he can now claim to be 'all in favor' of it. Kennedy isn't stupid, just venal and hopelessly corrupt.

[stylin19a]

JF'nK will not be far behind

[SAMS]

"He is reported to have said that he will allow the Coast Guard"

'scuse me? He will allow?

[BlazingArizona]

Very little electrical power is generated by oil products.

That doesn't matter. The more electricity we generate, the more petroleum uses we will be able to replace as technology becomes available. The Japanese are pushing the hydrogen cycle because this would allow them to apply their vast nuclear infrastructure to run automobiles.

Windmills won't produce nearly enough power to fill the gap, but let's all agree to build the energy sources we like the best. Let's make it strictly illegal to interfere with ANY power-producing idea that meets industry standards for safety and emissions.

[surrey]

You have to believe that he's offered the Coast Guard plenty of $$$$$$$ in some sort of pork bill.

[dfwgator]

There was once a Senator from Nantucket...

[DTogo]

They provide very expensive electricity when and where it is not needed.

Really? What's the price of wind energy, and don't they use electricity on Cape Cod?

[DTogo]

Yes, I know burning coal generates the bulk of electricity in the U.S., but how does that coal get to the power plants? And how many people generally work at a coal-fired power plant? How do they get to/from work everyday?

[rockabyebaby]

he will allow

WHAT????

HE will allow???

Bwahahahahahaha, how much did it cost him?????

[DTogo]

Perhaps you and I can look at the cost numbers in say five or ten years if they ever build a set out on the Cape.... ;)

They've already built a set in Europe 4 years ago. Perhaps you'd like to meet me in Pittsburgh in 10 days? ;)

[bwteim]

I know they have built wind farms in Denmark; they also take in a lot of money out of selling their technology to others.

The numbers of the Cape are still to be determined.

Never heard it asked which means it may be an ignorant question, but since there is no free lunch, what is the net effect of reducing or curtailing winds down stream from huge farms? Greater variation in temperatures?

BTW, thanks for the invite, Pittsburgh in ten days might be a welcome respite from the heat. Have fun at the conference.

[ninonitti]

He is playing to the audience, while stabbing the project in the back. The Dem voters are just too dim to know it!

It's got strong union support with the IBEW pushing for it. Fat Boy Ted can continue to be a friend of the "working" man by supporting this dead horse.

[Redleg Duke]

The Pig must be running for re-election.

[brazzaville]

Good evening.
"Perhaps there is some new evidence that they are not economically viable so they would never be built in the first place."

Maybe he got too much heat from constituents who don't care about his politics or his morals but who do care bout their power bills.

Michael Frazier

[bwteim]

Methinks you are right - sort of like wetting his finger and holding it up to see which way the wind is blowing. He has nothing to lose. My gut feeling is that Cape Wind will not materialize so

PS This is where I should sign off and then sign on again with a different screen name and say it will materialize ;)

Oh well, my boys are out there, Jerry, and they're loving it!

[jas3]

They provide very expensive electricity when and where it is not needed.

Really? What's the price of wind energy, and don't they use electricity on Cape Cod?

The price of wind energy is comprised of the construction cost and maintenance costs of the infrastructure. Of course coal facilities also require comparable infrastructure AND require coal. The wind farms get wind for "free". Unfortunately, the wind doesn't show up when people want it, i.e. during peak demand for electricity.

Certainly people use electricity on Cape Cod as everywhere else in the world. But in New England, peak generation season is during the summertime when people run their ACs. Few people in New England use electricity to heat their homes in the winter, when the wind farms would produce their peak electricity. In other words, the marginal electricity is generated when it is not needed.

The WHERE it is not needed refers to the fact that there is plenty of electrical demand in the Pacific Northwest for aluminum production or in the Southeast, even in the warm winters.....but NOT in New England.

Costs for electricity generation are generally quoted per kilowatt-hour. Unfortunately, the costs that are quoted for wind farms are generally B.S. They overstate the benefits of wind by quoting cost of generation as maximum possible peak generation as opposed to when the electricity is actually needed. Most wind farms can't and don't ever generate their peak, because the electricity is more expensive than that available from coal plants and is not needed. Thus the surplus wind generated electricity is not needed and is never used.

If it were not for federal subsidies this proposed wind farm would not be built. The subsidy is equal to 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour as a production tax credit.

Wind power probably costs 2 to 3 cents more per kilowatt hour than coal on average. The numbers are very very hard to determine. The American Wind Energy Association, which is a very PRO wind group thinks that New England wind is about 6 to 7 cents per kilowatt hour. I think they are a penny shy. So call it 7.5 cents per killowatt hour.

Coal is about half that, maybe a little more. So figure wind power in New England is TWICE as expensive as coal.

If you like wind power....then more power to you. But I hate to see my tax dollars wasted on your pet projects, just as I'm sure you would hate to see your tax dollars wasted on mine.

jas3