Michigan legislative action thread
Posted on 04/08/2013 4:37:28 PM PDT by cripplecreek
LUDINGTON, MI – Seventeen neighbors of the Lake Winds Energy Park wind farm south of Ludington have sued Consumers Energy Co., alleging that noise, vibrations and flickering lights from its 56 towering turbines are causing sleeplessness, headaches, dizziness and other physical symptoms as well as economic loss.
The neighbors filed their lawsuit April 1 in Mason County Circuit Court. They seek monetary damages in excess of $25,000 and a court order for Consumers to “cease and desist in their activities” and to “abate the intrusions.”
Consumers Energy declined to comment on the case on Monday. But the company will issue a statement in response to the lawsuit Tuesday morning, spokesman Dan Bishop said Monday.
The neighbors’ lawyer, Craig W. Horn of Saginaw, declined to comment on the case Monday.
According to the complaint, the neighbors allege that throughout the project’s testing period and immediately after it began operation last November, they noticed the following “intrusions” on their properties and homes:
• Frequent, “highly disturbing” noise from the turbines.
• Vibrations or a pulsing sensation as the blades pass by the pedestal.
• A flicker/strobe effect inside their homes when sunlight passes through the blades.
• Glare when sunlight shines on the turbines.
• Numberous flashing red lights reflecting off the rotating blades that “overwhelm the night sky” and are visible inside their homes.
The lawsuit alleges the neighbors, all of whom say they own property and live in homes within a half-mile of some of the turbines, have suffered “some and/or all” of the following physical conditions, which they attribute to the wind farm:
• Inability to sleep and repeated awakening.
• Headaches and pressure.
• Ringing and aching in the ears.
• Dizziness.
• Stress and tension.
• Extreme fatigue.
• Reduced ability to concentrate.
• Nausea.
The lawsuit claims the plaintiffs will continue to suffer harm, including physical injury, emotional distress and loss of property value if they continue to be exposed to the wind farm’s operation.
The $250 million Lake Winds Energy Park development in Mason County’s Riverton and Summit townships, between Ludington and Pentwater, generates 100.8 megawatts of electricity. Its Vestas turbines are 312 feet high at the hub, with rotor blades having a 328-foot diameter.
I hope they win. Those things are a blight on the landscape and the only reason they’re even viable is government subsidies. Waste of time and money compared to cheaper and less intrusive forms of energy generation.
That is an installed cost of $2.5 million per MW for interruptible power supply. That is ridiculous. Taxpayers and ratepayers are subsidizing this monstrosity. Neighbors are getting sick.
If they voted for people in the "D" column all these many years, they should be forced to live with the consequences.
I see Michigan. What are the odds they did not vote for the people who disrupted their "quiet enjoyment"?
To be fair, power is measured by the KW/hr. So, the $2.5 Million per KW isn't really accurate. We need to add whatever maintenance is required, and then figure out what the meaningful life expectancy of the windmill is expected to be, then add whatever cost it takes to tear it down, haul it away and scrap it.
I submit that the true cost is somewhat less than $2.5 Million/KW; but multiple times higher than other forms of electrical generation. Say, Nuclear for example - very safe, very economical, very efficient and very dependable. We power our aircraft carriers and submarines with it; and those reactors are carried into war. Been doing this for nearly 40 years.
Even though France (Libtard utopia) gets 85% of their energy from nuclear power; we can't because some Libtards saw a scary movie back in the 1970's.
Lets not forget the cost of replacing the windmill every 10 to 20 years.
Was out at Bass lake last summer and saw those ugly things sticking up out in the distance.
I lived in Evart and worked in Reed city. I think its the only time in my life that I actually looked forward to the drive to work.
With wind power you still need other installed capacity in case the wind power is not produced. Therefore, wind power only displaces the incremental generating cost, not total cost of generation.
The incremental cost of coal generation is less than $.02 per kwh. The average cost of wind power is about $.15 per kwh or 8 to 10 times the cost of energy it displaces. This unit has much higher than average installed cost. The cost per kwh is probably $.20 or higher.
Just give the neighbors the rights to harvest the shredded poultry downstream of the wind farm.
At least they’ll be eatin’ on the cheap....
I’d be joining the ranks of the ecoterrorists if I had to look at that crap all the time.
If they want to go green here in Michigan, hydro is the way to go. Its cheap and you don’t need a new dam every twenty years.
(I’m not talking about pump storage either)
Ever take the car ferry?
I’ve never been on the ferry.
It irritates the hell out of me that Rick Snyder is so enamored with his green tech that he thinks everybody wants it. I tell him every day on twitter that Michigan wants good old hands dirty blue collar jobs. I see today that Brian Calley is in Norway talking business (More windmills)
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