NC Governor Perdue Promotes Wind Power in Eastern NC

NC Governor Beverly Perdue touts a new wind power project in eastern, NC. The project is be in the Elizabeth City, NC area and is promoted as a economic boom, job creating, revenue producing, everything the greenies love project. But what they don't tell you is the cost in direct federal subsidies, state subsidies, tariffs, and indirect subsidies such as tax incentives, hidden fees tacked onto your electric bill, and the down-the-road maintenance fees that taxpayers will also pay for in the decades to come. I order for you to compare the cost of renewable energy such as wind and solar, you first have to look at what the monthly cost of your electric bill is plus the hidden costs of subsidies. This article touches on these costs Wall Street Journal.

Questions to ask Governor Perdue include:

• How much in federal subsidies does the Elizabeth City wind power project depend on?
• What happens if Congress cuts off the federal subsidy in part or entirely? Who pays then?
• How much in state subsidies and incentives does this project depend on?
• What happens if the Elizabeth City wind power project goes bankrupt? Who pays for the project operation? Who pays for dismantling worn out and malfunctioning equipment? Who pays rent to landowners who have leased their land as wind farms?
• Are there any fees or tax increases that will be applied to customer's electric bills?
• Are there additional costs involved with the project such as expansion of, or connection to the power grid? What are those costs?
• Has an Environmental Impact Statement been done? Does the EIS evaluate the impact of this wind farm on the wind, precipitation, and other weather factors in eastern NC?

Here is the press release by Iberdrola Renewables the company that will be building the project, including a statement by Governor Perdue:

Iberdrola Renewables Announces Permit Application for North Carolina Wind Power Project

Project Would Be First Commercial Scale Wind Project in State

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Iberdrola Renewables Inc., filed an application today with the North Carolina Utilities Commission as the first step toward development of a wind energy project it is considering in Pasquotank and Perquimans Counties in the northeastern part of North Carolina.

“Developing our green economy is a cornerstone of my vision for North Carolina’s economic future”

If built, the Desert Wind Power Project -- named for the flat, agricultural region in the area -- would be located on approximately 20,000 acres of private land near Elizabeth City. The company is considering development of a 300 megawatt (MW) project, which is enough to power between 55,000 – 70,000 North Carolina homes with clean, homegrown electricity.
“Developing our green economy is a cornerstone of my vision for North Carolina’s economic future,” Governor Bev Perdue said. “Projects such as the proposed Iberdrola Renewables’ wind farm can help us lay the foundation for North Carolina to lead the nation in clean, homegrown energy.”
Iberdrola Renewables has been working with the communities, landowners, multiple state and federal agencies, and conducting various studies on the potential project since 2009. The filing today represents the first step of many regulatory reviews that must be completed before Iberdrola Renewables makes a final decision on the project, which could begin construction as early as late 2011.
If developed as proposed, the Project is expected to bring substantial economic benefits to the area.
“Governor Perdue has made fostering the development of clean energy projects a priority to make North Carolina a national leader in the green economy,” Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco said. “We encourage Iberdrola Renewables to invest in North Carolina for a major wind energy project. This project would spark creation of clean energy manufacturing and jobs in North Carolina.”
Construction would be expected to create over 400 jobs, payments to local landowners could approach $1 million per year for the life of the Project, and additional property tax revenue would result from the Project’s operation. Additionally, due to the Project’s small footprint, less than two percent of the agricultural land would be taken out of corn, soybean, and cotton production.
Iberdrola Renewables, Inc. is headquartered in Portland, Ore., with more than 850 employees. It is part of the Iberdrola Renovables global group, the world's leading provider of wind power with more than 12,000 MW of renewable energy installed around the world, and more than 4,600 MW of that wind power located in the U.S. www.iberdrolarenewables.us. 
Press Release 

The company developing the wind project in Elizabeth City, NC, Iberdrola Renewables parent company is Iberdrola Renovables whose corporate office is in Spain, http://iberdrolarenewables.us/pdf/iberdrola-renewables-fact-sheet.pdf. Span's renewable energy program has cost Spain dearly in subsidies that their taxpayers fund, http://ianscityscope.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/heavy-subsidies-sustain-spains-wind-power/. The cost to taxpayers through subsidies and hidden fees paid to electric companies are so easy to find and document that it is amazing that politicians continue to get away with scamming the public. I think with very little effort, anyone can do a little research into the top three wind power countries, the USA, Germany, and Spain and can debunk many of the wind power claims.

The Progressives in this country continue to lure the unsuspecting public to the government water-trough by promising jobs, money, and low-cost, renewable energy. But since they created the U.S. Department of Energy, the agency that was going to solve the nations energy woes, they have delivered nothing but excessive spending and higher taxes. You must protect yourself by educating yourself on these issues; don't take anything they promise for granted. Like they say, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!" Or, as P. T. Barnum said "there's a sucker born every minute."