Boone Pickens, and everyone else who invested in wind energy, did so knowing that it was not competitive and did not make any economic sense. They invested in wind energy only if two conditions were met:
1. Politicians forced utilities to purchase wind energy at prices far in excess of competitive options and would not require wind energy to be available when it was needed. Wind energy was always interruptible by the producer. Utilities and rate payers always had to pay for back up generation.
2. Politicians provided their project with huge taxpayer subsidies including loans that did not have to be repaid.
It appears Mr. Pickens has concluded that Obama will not win a second term and therefore taxpayer funded giveaways will not be available. This is why he is changing his position and promoting natural gas.
Seems like just yesterday when my TV screen was filled 24/7 with his ads touting wind power as the Second Coming.
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boone’s wind power farms died when the price of natural gas collapsed. so likely now he has some investments in natural gas or natural gas related projects.
but so what?