[detective]

The installed cost is $2.5 million per MW(not KW). This is about 6 times the installed cost of a gas turbine generator. The gas turbine produces peak power, that is power when demanded. The windmill produces interruptible power, meaning it only generates when the wind is blowing, not when it is needed.

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.

[cripplecreek]

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)