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by One Citizen
In Greenbrier County WV, the Beech Ridge Wind Farm is a $300 million, 119-wind turbine wind farm presently under construction. The 400 feet (120 m) tall wind turbines, each of which will generate 1.5 megawatts of electricity, will be scattered for 15 miles (24 km) along Shellcamp, Smokehouse, Beech, Rockcamp and Big ridges and Cold Knob, Old Field, Blue Knob and Nunly mountains. Total output for the project will be 186 megawatts.
Take a look at the map below to compare Greenbrier's existing power transmission lines to those where the Coal River Mountain project in Raleigh County has been proposed.
It's pretty obvious that while Raleigh County has some hefty lines crisscrossing right through it (intersecting at Beckley), most of Greenbrier County is pretty power-line free. Apparently that's why there's a new power line a new 13.8 miles (22.2 km), 138 kilovolt power transmission line, to be located in Greenbrier and Nicholas counties. The construction of those lines are already injecting revenue into the local economy.
Note that there's a really hefty power transmission line crisscrossing Grant and Tucker because Grant County's Mount Storm Wind Energy Center has a 66 megawatt plant with 44 1.5 megawatt turbines that generate enough electricity to power 22,000 homes. It's 132 wind turbines stretch along 12 miles of the Allegheny Front, and can generate up to 264 megawatts. That's enough electricity to serve about 66,000 homes and businesses. And Tucker County's wind farm consists of 44 NEG Micon 1.5 megawatt (MW) wind turbines that produce 66 MW of electricity. Tucker county's Mountaineer Wind Energy Center generates enough electricity to power approximately 20,000 homes.
The reason I delineated Kanawha county in red is because the transmission lines coming from its polluting coal-fired John Amos power plant are far fewer and less impressive than those running through Tucker and Grant county, which lead me to suspect that someone from our "extraction" state may well have over specified the power line right-of-way requirements from non-coal producing power generating systems. BTW I found the above power line grid map on the U.S. Dept. of Energy website, so it should be fairly accurate.
Anyway, since Tucker County has had its wind farm on line since 2003, it may be useful to know what its done for the county. Resident Robert Burns worked for the Tucker County Development Authority during the planning and construction of the wind farm, and recently spoke with a southern WV coalfield delegation about some bottom line incentives for wind in West Virginia. "Our local government was looking for two things when deciding about the economic development of Mountaineer Wind Energy - taxes and jobs."
The project created local jobs, and the county tax revenues increased significantly from the onset of the project. And although school districts across our southern coalfield are failing due to lack of funds, 60-70% of tax payments to Tucker county from Mountaineer Wind Energy are reinvested into schools. source
One last item regarding the ability of "extraction states" to fund wind farm projects
Chinese banks put up $1.5 billion for a 36,000-acre wind farm in Texas with the power to light up 180,000 homes. CBSnews, Oct. 29, 2009
"The project is a joint venture with U.S. Renewable Energy Group, a private equity firm, Austin, Texas-based Cielo Wind Power LP and Shenyang Power Group of China
"The joint venture also plans to tap into U.S. stimulus funding for alternative energy, said Cappy McGarr, managing partner of U.S. Renewable Energy.
"Armed with nearly $1 billion in federal grants, wind farm developers installed 1,649 megawatts of capacity from July through September - enough to serve the equivalent of 480,000 average households and about 18 percent more than the year-ago quarter, the American Wind Energy Association said last week.
"That suggests the industry is doing better than might be expected, easing fears that a lack of lending would stall new wind capacity". source
Check this out
"Now is a great time to be investing [in renewable energy] because of all of the advantages of the stimulus package money," said McGarr, managing partner of U.S. Renewable Energy Group."And this is an opportunity to create something that will last a long, long time."
"The $1.5 billion project is an opportunity for China, which has been aggressively expanding its wind power, to get a toehold in the U.S. renewable energy market. The deal was announced on the same day U.S. trade negotiators said China agreed to drop a restriction that has insulated Chinese wind turbines from import competition."
"Hornaday said the Chinese investment helped to make up for the impact of low energy prices. Wind farms have looked less attractive to investors as the price of natural gas, which heavily influences the price for power in Texas, remains low.
"...To qualify for the stimulus grant, the project must begin construction by 2010. source
Anyone wondering how much of the stimulus money Governor Manchin hasn't spent developing "renewable" alternative energy sources in WV can follow the money at this link
There's a shovel-ready wind project in Raleigh County for which the residents have been petitioning the state to save for quite some time now. But due monumental acts of bad faith by agents of the WV Department of Environmental Protection and the WV Department of Energy, it may never come to pass.
The problem is that their state agents have decided to contravene the The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) and issue permits to Massey subsidiary Marple Coal without properly reviewing the woefully inadequate post-mining land use master plan which calls for the mountains to be restored to support "forest, wildlife, and fish". So the blasting away of a natural, non-polluting solid and reliable source of income for Raleigh County has begun, and along with it the hopes and dreams of that community.
Please call President Obama today at 202-456-1414 and implore him to use his agencies and influence with West Virginia politicians to stop the destruction of Coal River Mountain immediately.
Don't forget to visit the Coal River Mountain action page for more details. |
