NOTES FROM GLENN SCHLEEDE

 RE: WIND SUBSIDIES IN THE SENATE BILL and the claim 37,000 jobs will be created (unfortunately the PTC subsides were extended anyway - till the end of 2013)

 

Glenn's comments:

 

 

1.  37,000 is a "made up" number.

 

2.  Electricity from wind is high in cost and low in value.

 

3.  Billions in capital investment dollars have been wasted, with many of those dollars going to other countries for turbines, towers and blades.

 

4.  Those capital investment dollars could have been used more productively and employed many more people than the few employed in erecting and operating wind turbines.

 

5.  Hundreds of millions in higher costs for electricity and in tax burden have been shifted from the pockets of ordinary taxpayers and electric customers to the pockets of "wind farm" owners.

 

6.  Those dollars could have been used by taxpayers and electric customers to buy goods and services that would have employed many more people than are employed in the wind industry. 

 

7.  federal tax breaks and subsidies have added to deficits and to the national debt -- which debt will have to be paid by our children and grandchildren.

 

8.  Look at the situation in NY.  A reliable gas-fired generating unit build in the New York City area could have produced more electricity than all of New York's "wind farms" -- and made it unnecessary to expand transmission capacity from upstate and western New York.

 

9.  In summary, the costs of electricity from wind turbines FAR outweigh the benefits.

 

Glenn